IT WAS the “World Day against Trafficking in Persons” yesterday. This annual observance aims to bring focus to the problem on human trafficking, or some call it modern-day slavery.
Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex. The International Labour Organization estimates that 21 million people are victims of this globally.
Every country is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. Children make up almost a third of all human trafficking victims worldwide, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. Additionally, women and girls comprise 71 per cent of human trafficking victims, the report states.
In the Philippines, our women and children continue to become victims of human trafficking, including online sexual exploitation. This is not due to the lack of laws necessary to protect women and children but rather the absence of stricter penalties for human traffickers and online sexual predators from other nations.
The Philippines has enough laws to combat human trafficking and protect women and children. What we need is to strengthen the enforcement and implementation of these laws – Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act, the Magna Carta of Women, the Anti-Child Labor Law, the Domestic Workers Act, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and its expanded version.
But since human trafficking is a transnational crime, addressing it requires a concerted effort from all nations. The challenge really is for other nations to also raise the penalties to lower the demand and reflect the true nature of the crime in their respective countries.
All countries must do their part to ensure that all offenders are heavily penalized.
