Philip and Lacy Whitmire Langford ’90 were guests of GPS on Friday as presenters in the Global Speaker Series. They shared details of their work with the International Justice Mission in securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other types of oppression.
The couple worked in India for three years where Mr. Langford was a lawyer for IJM helping the public justice system in that country to prepare cases against perpetrators of forced labor. His job presently is at the Washington, D.C. office of the human rights agency where he supervises operations and assessments in several African countries and looks for new opportunities on that continent.
With five children (one was born in India), Ms. Langford says that not much could prepare her for the weight of human misery that she and her husband witnessed. However, she added, “GPS prepared me to see beauty in different cultures and gave me an open mind for differences among people” across the globe.
Mr. Langford described the work of IJM as one that builds rapport with the varied parts of the justice systems abroad and tries to be diplomatic and deferential while demonstrating the usefulness of IJM’s investigative and legal services. “The world could use the culture of excellence found at GPS,” he said.
When asked by students how they could be involved, he reminded them of the “brokenness in the developing world” and in their own backyards. "It only takes $21 a day to send an IJM lawyer out into the field to investigate a case,” he said. He also suggested that they could write letters to Congress to support legislation that battles child trafficking by assisting public justice systems in investigating and prosecuting perpetrators and by authorizing assistance for victim care.