Group to tap youth in fight against human trafficking

Monday, December 12, 2011

A CIVIL society group is tapping disadvantaged members of the youth sector in the campaign to end human trafficking.

The Legal Alternatives for Women (Law) Center Inc. provides a computer literacy program to out-of-school and unemployed youths in Cebu.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

After finishing the program, they become volunteers in the anti-human trafficking movement.

Evelyn Dela Cruz, Law Center’s information technology trainor, said the volunteers serve as tipsters against human traffickers in their communities.

“The youth sector is most vulnerable to human trafficking. If the members are aware of trafficking, they will not become victims of this,” Dela Cruz told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

Youth volunteers of the Movement of Anti-Trafficking Advocates gathered in Cebu City yesterday as part of activities for the International Day Against Human Trafficking, which is being observed today.

Some 403 victims of sex trafficking have been rescued by law enforcers in Metro Cebu since 2004, according to the International Justice Mission.

But sex traffickers now use “aggressive tactics” to escape criminal liability, said IJM Philippines director Andrey Sawchenko in a press conference last Thursday.

Sawchenko said some trafficking victims submit an affidavit of desistance or a petition for habeas corpus in court after being offered money or threatened by sex traffickers.

He said collaboration among different sectors is crucial in addressing the problem of human trafficking.

“If we group together, we can break the silence of victims and make trafficking a high-risk crime,” he said.

Law Center president Portia Dacalos said the youth sector should take an active role in the fight against human trafficking.

“The youths are the target of trafficking syndicates. As the ones who are victimized by traffickers, the youths should speak up and be involved in the movement against human trafficking,” Dacalos told Sun.Star Cebu.

Since 2007, 118 sex trafficking suspects have been arrested and 147 charged with violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking Law in Metro Cebu through IJM intervention.

Pureza Tabuac, Mandaue City’s focal person on anti-trafficking for women and children, said 42 victims of human trafficking in Mandaue City have been reintegrated into their communities.

“We need to also pay attention to recovery and reintegration aspect of human trafficking,” she said.

Tabuac said a support network is providing therapy sessions and livelihood assistance, among others, to victims of sex trafficking in Mandaue City.

Jenneth Aquino of the Visayan Forum Foundation Inc. stressed the importance of a victim-centered approach in the fight against human trafficking.

She said it is important to provide the victims their basic needs to help them go through the legal battle.

Liza Tumulak of the Lihok Pilipina Foundation said capacity-training for volunteers is also crucial.

“As long as there are men who treat women as objects and there is poverty, there will always be human trafficking,” Tumulak said.

Sawchenko commended the Cebu Provincial Government for creating a witness protection program. He said the availability of witness protection programs is important to encourage victims to pursue their cases against sex traffickers.

The IJM, United Nations Children’s Fund and the War Against Trafficking-Cebu organized a fun run in Cebu City yesterday as part of activities in celebration of the International Anti-Trafficking Day.

“We are looking forward to intensified efforts in the coming years,” said Sawchenko.