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Philippine Commission On Women: Policy Brief No. 2
Philippine Commission On Women: Policy Brief No. 2
Philippine Commission On Women: Policy Brief No. 2
Addressing the System of Prostitution in the Philippines, Imposing Penalties for Perpetrators and
Providing Protective Measures and Support Services for Victims:
ENACTING THE ANTI‐PROSTITUTION LAW (AMENDING ARTICLES 202 AND 341 OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE)
This policy brief provides the rationale for amending Articles 202 and 341 of the Revised Penal Code on Prostitution and White Slave Trade.
It also presents recommendations on how to address the system of prostitution in the Philippines by providing legal protection and support
services for its victims and shifting the criminal liability to those who exploit people in prostitution.
WHAT IS THE ISSUE? prostitution as revealed in a study of UNICEF. Prostitution may
Prostitution, a form of sexual exploitation and violence against now be the country’s fourth largest source of GNP according to
women and girls is a human rights violation. It is an exploitative the study by the Psychological Trauma Program of the
system that commodifies, objectifies and dehumanizes women, University of the Philippines.2
men and children who are being sold within the system. It
reinforces the subordinate status of the more vulnerable Prostitution thrives because of gender inequality and lack of
individuals who are more often, women and children; as it respect for women’s human rights clearly manifested on the
serves the instant sexual gratification of the more privileged false notion that women are inferior, sexual objects and
“clientele” who are mostly male. commodities while men are superior, decision‐makers and
owners of properties. The system also thrives because of
Worldwide, the prostitution business has a clear link to human complex socio‐cultural and economic factors ‐‐ poverty, under‐
trafficking for sexual exploitation and to internet pornography. education, unemployment and economic disparity and power
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in relations, making it easier for those who have more money and
Persons reports that “…for the most part, prostitution as power to exploit more vulnerable people and lead them into
actually practiced in the world usually does satisfy the elements prostitution and the sex trade. Women do not make a rational
of trafficking”1. choice in entering prostitution; they settle with the limited
options available to them bearing conditions of inequality that
The common underlying cause and what primarily sustains are set by the customers who pay women to do what they
both prostitution, trafficking, and pornography is demand. want them to do. At some point, State policies which are
Pornography accessed through internet and mobile telephony gender blind on the issue of prostitution may even result in
is the theory; prostitution and trafficking for sexual purposes compromising Filipino women’s bodily integrity to sex tourists,
are the practice. Prostitution has become institutionalized, foreign and local, military and big business. Our society has
organized, and globalized through human trafficking and the made prostitution “hidden in plain sight” – although it is
internet. Different forms of prostitution thus exist, like street everywhere, we tend to disregard and do not give priority to
solicitation, bars, brothels, “akyat‐barko”, massage parlors, addressing it.
escort services, sex tourism, cybersex, local and international
sex trafficking. Article 202 of the RPC as amended by R.A. 101583 provides:
There are too many women and girls who are lured to “Article 202. Prostitutes; Penalty. – For the purposes of
prostitution. Men and boys are also being exposed for sexual this article, women who, for money or profit, habitually
purposes. In the 1998 study by the International Labor indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are
Organization (ILO), it was estimated that there were at least deemed to be prostitutes.
400,000 to 500,000 prostituted persons in the Philippines with
an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children. In 2004, the number Any person found guilty of any of the offenses
covered by this article shall be punished by arresto
of those exploited in prostitution alone reached 600,000 and it
menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, and in case of
ballooned to 800,000 in 2005. In a 2009 study, there were
recidivism, by arresto mayor in its medium period
around 800,000 prostituted persons in the Philippines; half of
to prision correctional in its minimum period or a fine
them are children. Annually, it is estimated that 3,266 children
are forced into prostitution. The Philippines ranks fourth 2
Statistics presented in the Privilege Speech of Senator Pia S. Cayetano on
among the nations with the most number of children in
the Anti‐Prostitution Bill (SBN 2341), September 26, 2011
3
R.A. 10158: An Act Decriminalizing Vagrancy, Amending Article 202 of RPC
1 which was enacted on March 27, 2012 repealed Article 202 provisions that
Sigma Huda, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, “Integration of
the Human Rights of Women and A Gender Perspective: Report of the pertain to vagrancy, leaving behind the provision that penalizes prostitutes,
Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking notwithstanding their exploitation within the system of prostitution.
in persons, especially women and children” 2006
ENACTING THE ANTI-PROSTITUTION LAW 1
PCW Policy Brief August
No. 2 2013
ranging from 200 to 2,000 pesos, or both, in the penalizes the use of trafficked persons for prostitution and
discretion of the court.” gives legal protection to prostituted persons who are victims of
trafficking.
Notably, the above provision focuses law enforcement and
legal sanctions exclusively on prostituted women. This is clearly Quezon City Ordinance No. SP‐1516, series of 20054 recognizes
an affront to women as it continues to criminalize prostituted persons in prostitution as victims. It imposes penalties only on
women, while letting the customers and the pimps go the perpetrators, such as the pimps and recipients of the sexual
unscathed. act. It also provides services to persons exploited in prostitution
through education campaigns against prostitution, crisis
WHY IS THE ISSUE IMPORTANT? intervention service, education and socio‐economic assistance,
Our existing legislation on prostitution is discriminatory against sustainable livelihood skills training, financial support for scale
women as it views prostituted women as criminals who engage businesses, integration and complete after‐care programs,
in the sex industry for monetary gain. Women are viewed as health services, counseling, and temporary shelter.
the cause of ill in the society, not those who create the demand
side of prostitution. The gender inequality in prostitution is also WHAT ARE THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHER
manifested through the stigma attached to prostituted persons COUNTRIES IN ADDRESSING THE ISSUE?
which perpetuates male domination over women and girls’ Sweden prohibits the purchase of sexual services with
bodies. Such discrimination has the potential to impair the punishments of stiff fines or imprisonment, thus declaring that
fundamental dignity and personhood of women and girls. prostitution isn’t a desirable economic and labor sector. The
government also decriminalizes women in prostitution by
WHAT ARE THE EXISTING LAWS OR POLICY helping them get out of the system and rebuild their lives5. This
ISSUANCES RELATED TO THE ISSUE? is what Sweden called as the “Nordic Model”6 which was
Article II, Section 11 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution adopted by Norway and Iceland in 2009. Instead of prosecuting
provides that “the State values the dignity of every human prostituted women, they’ve offered them social services,
person and guarantees full respect for human rights.” In educational support and genuine alternatives, while
addition, Article XIII, Section 1 states that “the Congress shall criminalizing pimps and customers or “johns”7.
give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect
and enhance the rights of all people to human dignity, reduce In Venezuela, a landmark ruling given by the Ministry of Labor
social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural rejected the view that prostitution should be considered work
inequities by equitable diffusing wealth and political power for because it lacks the basic elements of dignity and social justice.
the common good.” The Socialist Republic of Vietnam punishes pimps, traffickers,
brothel owners, and buyers – sometimes publishing buyer’s
RA 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) specifically names in the mass media. For women in prostitution, the
recognized that prostitution is an act of violence against government finances medical, educational, and economic
women (VAW) from which women should be protected. rehabilitation.
Section 12 of this law provides for the amendment or repeal of
laws that are discriminatory to women which, among others, In October 2000, the U.S. Congress passed the Victims of
include Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) on the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 20008, introduced by
definition of prostitution. New Jersey republican representative Chris Smith. Under this
law penalties for traffickers are raised and protections for
RPC Article 341 on White Slave Trade imposes penalty of
imprisonment from 2 years, 4 months and one day to 6 years 4
An Ordinance Addressing the System of Prostitution, Imposing Penalties on its
“upon any person who, in any manner, or under any pretest, Perpetrators, Providing Protective Measures and Support Services for the Prostituted
shall engage in the business or shall profit by prostitution or Persons, and for Other Purposes
5
shall enlist the services of any other for the purpose of Actual text of the law states: “A person who obtains casual sexual relations in
exchange for payment shall be sentenced ‐ unless the act is punishable under the
prostitution.” Swedish Penal Code ‐ for the purchase of sexual services to a fine or imprisonment for
at the most six months. Attempt to purchase sexual services is punishable under
RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti‐ Chapter 23 of the Swedish Penal Code” (Sweden, Law Prohibiting the Purchase of
Sexual Services) 1998
Trafficking in Persons Act explicitly defines prostitution as “any 6
Also known as the “Swedish Model”, which is a set of laws that penalizes the
act, transaction, scheme or design involving the use of a person demand for commercial sex while decriminalizing individuals in prostitution. It has two
main goals: curb the demand for commercial sex that fuels sex trafficking, and
by another, for sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct in promote equality between men and women.
exchange for money, profit or any other consideration.” It also 7
Outlined in Shari Graydon’s column: “Liberalizing prostitution laws won’t protect
women”, June 14, 2013
8
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/10492.pdf
PCW Policy Briefs aim to stimulate informed discourse and guide policy actions on issues concerning the
empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality.
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
Philippine Commission on Women
1145 J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, 1005 Manila
http://www.pcw.gov.ph | pdad@pcw.gov.ph | +632 735‐8918