Monday, October 06, 2008 Oro joins 'No Prostitution Day' By Annabelle L. Ricalde
THE Association of Barangay Council has passed a resolution asking owners of girlie bars to close their establishments in observance of the International Day of No Prostitution on Sunday.
Thus, on Sunday night, the red light district of Cagayan de Oro was empty of sex workers.
Among those who joined the No Prostitution Day were barangays 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 where most of the girlie bars and karaoke joints are located.
Sunday's activity culminated in a torch parade led by officials of Barangay Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City. The parade started in Agora bus terminal, where many girlie bars are also located. It ended at the Lapasan barangay hall.
"At least even for one night there is no prostitution and all respect the International Day of No Prostitution," Eleony Monding, chairman of Tingog Sa Kasanag (TiSaKa), said in a phone interview.
Tisaka, a non-government organization (NGO) helping sex workers in the city, was in the forefront in the campaign along with the Religious of Good Shepherd (RGS) nuns.
Monding said they have no exact number as to how many sex workers are plying their trade in the city. Most of these sex workers work freelance and very hard to track down, she said.
Cagayan de Oro is one of the "hot zones" of sex trafficking in the country, according to several Cebu-based NGOs. Many women living in rural barangays are lured to Cebu City with promises of good, paying jobs but ended up working for sex slavery gangs.
Monding said there are 351 women who have sought help with their NGO. Of the 351 women, only 60 are actually working in Cagayan de Oro City. The rest work irregularly choosing to ply their trade elsewhere, she said.
Many of these women, Minding said, have undergone education and values formation lectures aimed to teach them to get out of the trade.
She said 20 women have already stopped plying their trade and have started small business like sari-sari stores or selling foodstuff.
"However, I could not say they will not go into prostitution anymore. We can only hope that they would," Monding said.
If there is any consolation, Monding said many of the women in their program have decreased the number of times they went out with men.
Poverty is the main factor why women are driven to prostitution. Many also fell to criminal gangs preying on hapless, poor women promising them to non-existent jobs. Many would eventually fell to prostitution.
