WUNRN
Women News Network - WNN
July 29, 2009
Philippines
- Anti Mail-Order Bride Law Doesn’t Limit Human Trafficking
- IRIN
– Humanitarian News and Analysis for WOMEN NEWS NETWORK
Many trafficking victims are forced into
exploitive conditions, including forced marriages. Image: Ana Santos / IRIN
Yet Analyn, whose nightmare began in
December 2007, was also luckier than most. Before joining her new “husband”,
she had to secure a clearance certificate from the Commission on Filipinos
Overseas (CFO), a legal
requirement for all those wishing to work abroad, and took the opportunity to
report her case.
“It is always better if we can prevent them
from leaving the country. But sometimes the victims don’t know they are
victims,” Janet Ramos of the CFO Task Force Against Human Trafficking told IRIN
in
Such cases are not unusual in the
Philippines, which remains a source, transit and destination country for
human trafficking, say specialists.
“Trials often take years to conclude because of a lack of
judges and courtrooms, high turnover [of judges], and non-continuous trials,
which cause some victims to withdraw their testimony.”
– The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Although many Filipinos are voluntary
labour migrants, many like Analyn are later coerced into exploitative
conditions, including forced marriages.
Humantrafficking.org a web resource for combating human
trafficking, reports that between 300,000 and 400,000 women are trafficked
annually.
But despite strict laws to combat it, the
country’s legal system is apparently unable to prosecute such cases, allowing
traffickers to work with impunity.
According to a US State Department 2009 Trafficking
in Persons Report released in June, “the government’s ability to
effectively prosecute trafficking crimes is severely limited by an inefficient
judicial system and endemic corruption”, with the result that it has been
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch-list status.
Sexploitation of young Filipina girls is a
lucrative industry that attracts organized crime syndicates and transnational
trafficking networks. Image: Jerich Abon
This refers to countries that are making
“significant efforts to comply with the [Office to Monitor and Trafficking of
Persons] OMCTP standards but show no evidence that they increased their efforts
compared to the previous year”. A country may also be demoted to the Watch-list
if the number of cases increases.
“It [the fight against human trafficking]
is sustained but inadequate,” the report stated.
Legal delays
The CFO is helping Analyn in her case
against the traffickers but it is taking time. Since filing her case in early
2008, there have three hearings, the last in June, all of which have been
postponed or delayed for various reasons.
Analyn has been approached by the
traffickers to settle the case and although she says she has no plans to give
up, Ivy Miravales, her CFO handler, is worried.
“We know she has other problems. She
doesn’t have a job and her family is poor. We hope she’ll be able to keep up
the fight,” she said.
“It’s supposedly hard to prove exploitation because she
got away.”
-
Janet Ramos, CFO Task Force Against Human Trafficking
To ensure a greater chance of conviction,
instead of trying the case under Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as the 2003
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which could be more difficult to prove given
she escaped, the judge wants the case tried under Republic Act 6955 or the
Anti-Mail Order Bride Law.
Trafficking remains a source of concern for
activists. Thousands of women fall victim every year. Image: International
Justice Mission
But in doing so, the disincentive for
traffickers will also be diminished.
Added to that, judges often have a poor
understanding of the anti-trafficking law, the US State Department said.
While the maximum sentence for traffickers
under RA 9208 can be life imprisonment, under RA 6955 it is eight years.
Inefficient judicial system
“Trials often take years to conclude
because of a lack of judges and courtrooms, high turnover [of judges], and
non-continuous trials, which cause some victims to withdraw their testimony,”
the OMCTP report charged.
Of particular concern is the need to step
up the number of convictions for labour trafficking cases, it said. To date,
there have been only 12 convictions under the 2003 Anti-trafficking in Persons
Act – all sex trafficking offences.
However, the government says it is making
headway.
According to Ferdinand Lavin, chief of the
National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division, there were
168 alleged cases of trafficking in 2008, a 60 percent increase over the
previous year, with four convictions.
“It’s not a setback. It’s a warning. It’s
more of a challenge,” Lavin told IRIN. “We will have to talk separately with
law enforcement. We have to talk to courts. Courts take a long [time]. We
cannot intervene.”
What the government fears most is a Tier 3
assessment next year, which could trigger the withholding of non-humanitarian,
non-trade-related assistance from
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Human trafficking is a major
problem facing the
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