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In 2010, an
estimated
60,000–100,000
children in the
Philippines
were involved in
prostitution rings

Victims are trafficked from

rural areas to urban centres

including Manila, Cebu,

the city of Angeles, and

increasingly cities in Mindanao,

as well as within other urban

areas and tourist destinations

such as Boracay, Olongapo,

Puerta Galera, and Surigao.

Organised

crime

syndicates

transports

sex trafficking

victims from

China through

the Philippines

en route to

third-country

destinations.

Most of these child

victims were between

12 and 22 years old

2011, the

umber went down

o 62

eported cases

In 2010, there were

190 reported case
(the highest since
2004) on the violen
of women in the
context of trafficking

are either abducted from their villages and drugged

or offered well-paid jobs in the city, or enticed with

promises of marriage.

The border between Nepal and India is over 1,500

kilometres long, with just 14 checkpoints along the

route – thus enabling over 20,000 girls and young

women, mostly aged between 12 and 25, to be smuggled

across. In 2014, some as young as eight were rescued

from traffickers – far away from the red-light districts,

bordellos and call houses of Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi

or Mumbai.

In Svay Pak, a poor fishing village on the outskirts

of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, the trade

flourishes. Ecpat International, who is committed to

combating the sexual exploitation of children, says,

“insufficiently enforced laws, corruption as well as the

failure to address more overarching problems such

as poverty” has made it a prime destination for child

sex tourism. It is a place where mothers – both the

unsuspecting and those who abnegate their parental

duty to protect – sell their own daughters to be

supplied locally or across the country.

Svay Pak, a poor fishing village on

the outskirts of Cambodia’s capital,

Phnom Penh, is a place where mothers

sell their own daughters to be supplied

locally or across the country.

My belief is that if we want to try to end human

trafficking, we need to place a strong emphasis on

caring properly for those who are already trapped.

With no funding or employment opportunities,

survivors often resume work for another trafficker,

because they have no other means of survival.

Alternatively, a survivor will be arrested because

law enforcement has no place to send her to seek

appropriate services. My fashion line aims to provide

funding for these programmes.

My first collection is aptly named, “Freedom Is

the New Beautiful”. The colours are vibrant and the

fabrics are flowy to signify we are new creations – no

longer defined by our past. When I speak, I love talking

about my restoration and who I am now. My apparel

is also modest, yet fashionable. I want to push the idea

(UN International Labour Organization, Manila) (Visayan Forum Foundation)

(Philippine Commission on Women) (Philippine Commission on Women)

1 Manila

2 Cebu

3 Angeles

4 Mindanao

5 Boracay

6 Olongapo

7 Puerta Galera

8 Surigao

CHINA

PROXIMITY

BREEDS NUMBERS

PROSTITUTION IN

THE PHILIPPINES

5

6

8

7

(^13)
4