THERE’S an ongoing 18-day campaign (Nov. 25 to Dec. 15) calling for an end to violence against women. In Region 6, it is being spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
This problem is undeniable. In fact, it is ironic that we are constantly on the top list of the global gender balance index yet we continue having reports of women being abused. And one serious type of this abuse is human trafficking.
Of the over eight million estimated overseas Filipino workers, over a million are said to be irregular migrants and are suspected to be victims of trafficking or smuggling, and certainly there are women in them.
Remember the nine Filipinas recruited as waitresses in Malaysia a few years ago but were forced into prostitution and were physically abused by sexual predators? During their captivity, they were given only one meal a day. Fortunately they managed to escape and sought refuge in the Philippine embassy.
Too many women – and even minors – have been deceived by traffickers posing as legitimate recruiters. They are duped about the true nature of the work and are exploited in slavery-like conditions. They are recruited with promises of decent and high-paying jobs in foreign countries only to find themselves forced into back-breaking illegal labor or prostitution or drug smuggling.
There must also be adequate support and services for trafficked women and their families, and for civil society to cooperate in reporting cases of human trafficking to the authorities. These women, forced to find work abroad because of poverty, fall prey to traffickers and inevitably become victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse.
The government should seriously implement Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, which mandates policies to eliminate and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and establishes the necessary institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked persons.
The government should seriously fight violence against women, and specifically human trafficking. This should no longer be a silent issue.
