Human Trafficking is modern day slavery. Traffickers prey on the weak and the poor, luring them with false promises. Over 12 million adults and children are victims of forced labor, sexual exploitation, bonded labor and forced prostitution. 2.5 million of them ended up in inhumane conditions because of human trafficking. Majority (56 percent) of whom are in the Asia and Pacific. This $31.6 billion industry is reported to have affected 161 countries by being a source, transit or destination country. People are said to be trafficked from 127 countries and are exploited in 137 countries. An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year.
Most of the victims are between the ages of 18 to 24 years and have received at least middle level education. An estimated 95 percent f the victims experience physical or sexual violence during trafficking. Around 43 percent are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation---98 percent are women and girls. Over 30 percent of trafficking victims end up in forced economic exploitative situations-56 percent are women and girls.
Men make up 52 percent of the traffickers while 42 percent are women. In most cases (54 percent), the recruiter was a stranger to the victim while in 46 percent of the cases the recruiter was known to the victim. Majority of traffickers involved in the process are nationals of the country where the trafficking process is taking place.
In 2009, there were 5,606 prosecutions and 4,166 convictions (335 for labor trafficking) worldwide.
The Philippines passed Republic Act 9208 (RA 9208), also known as “The Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003” which instituted policies to eliminate trafficking in persons especially in women and children. It also established the necessary institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked individuals. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor, Department of Justice are only a few of the government agencies which established and implement preventive, protective and rehabilitative programs for trafficked victims as mandated by the law. RA 9208 brought about the formation of Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking or IACAT.
From 2003 to 2009, 938 trafficking cases were filed: 387 cases were filed in court un RA 9208 with 23 violation of related laws; 335 cases are pending resolution before the prosecutor’s office while 167 cases have been dismissed or dropped.
As of December 2010, there have been only 33 convictions with 33 people convicted since passing the law in 2003. Seven of the convictions were made in 2010.
