BY ALYANNA L. ORBITA/DSSC INTERN
THE DAVAO City OFW Families’ Welfare and Crisis Center (OFW-FWCC) has widened the information and education campaign at the grassroots level to address human trafficking cases, particularly involving children.
During the iSpeak forum on Aug. 1, OFW-FWCC head Joey Jayme said they have to double their efforts considering the magnitude of the problem.
A study by Justice and Care in collaboration with Dublin City University and De La Salle University in Manila revealed that child trafficking in the Philippines has reached epidemic proportions, driven by both global demand and the local cottage industry.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Philippines was among the highest in the number of cyber-tip reports with nearly three million cases (Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children). Meanwhile, the International Justice Mission claimed that 1 in 100 children have been trafficked in 2022.
“Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex. Through force, fraud, and coercion, they are forced to toil in fields and factories, restaurants, and residences. Traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals – profiting from their plight,” the US State Secretary’s Office said in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons report.
Jayme said they organized the World Day Against Trafficking Forum with the Philippine Inter Faith Members at the SP Green Hall last week.
The group also oriented the first batch of the barangay officials for the 1st district spearheaded by the Local Committee for the Anti Trafficking in Person and Violence against Women and Children Committee and the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
The initiative will hopefully speed up intervention on reports of child trafficking.
July marked National Anti-Trafficking Awareness Month, with July 30, 2024, as the World Day Against Trafficking in Person carrying the theme “Leave No Child Behind.”
Established in 2022, the OFW-FWCC said it already facilitated three suspected trafficking cases. However, investigators are still building up the cases to file either an illegal recruitment or trafficking charge against the perpetrators. Nonetheless, the CWSDO has committed to providing psychosocial interventions for the victims.
