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HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human trafficking is subjecting people to forced labor for little or no pay. There is a
lot of physical, mental, and emotional abuse that goes along with human trafficking.
Once caught in the vicious lifestyle, victims have no financial means to make it on
their own and see no way out.

Human traffickers prey on very poor people, usually making false promises of a
better life and financial security. Sadly, they will often promise parents to take their
children from them to help the children escape poverty. The children end up on the
street begging for money, which they turn over to their “boss”, or in brothels. There
are many poor areas in the Philippines that have become prime targets.

The widespread contemporary exploitation of men, women and children is

unacceptable to people of conscience the world over. Traditional approaches to
preventing trafficking in human beings, to protect and assist trafficked persons and
bring criminals to justice have had some small impact on the global phenomenon,
but not enough. That even one young person be denied the benefits of childhood,
that one young woman be subjected to the brutal humiliation of sexual exploitation
and that one man become the slave of a cruel taskmaster in another country are
clear signals that we must renew both our resolve as well as our initiatives to protect
those who are vulnerable.
In the movie, graduating students are very tempted to find or accept job offers and
they do not usually know the background of the one who is offering. Issues such as
disempowerment, social exclusion and economic vulnerability are the result of
policies and practices that marginalize entire groups of people and make them
particularly vulnerable to being trafficked. Natural disasters, conflict and political
turmoil weaken already tenuous social protection measures. Individuals are
vulnerable to being trafficked not only because of conditions in their countries of
origin, however. The allure of opportunity, the relentless demand for inexpensive
goods and services and the expectation of reliable income drive people into
potentially dangerous situations where they are at risk of being exploited.

As Law Enforcement Officers, we must set objectives to minimize or totally eradicate

human trafficking such as:

1. Raise awareness — tell the world that human trafficking exists and mobilize
people to stop it.
2. Strengthen prevention — inform vulnerable groups and alleviate the factors
that make people vulnerable to trafficking.
3. Reduce demand — attack the problem at its source by lowering incentives
to trade and lowering demand for the products and services of exploited people.
4. Support and protect the victims — ensure housing, counselling, medical,
psychological and material assistance, keeping in mind the special needs of women
and children and people at risk, such as those in refugee camps and conflict zones.
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5. Improve law enforcement effectiveness — improve information exchange

on trafficking routes, trafficker profiles and victim identification to dismantle criminal
groups and convict more traffickers. For those convicted, to ensure that the
punishment fits the crime.
6. Enrich the database — deepen global understanding of the scope and
nature of trafficking in persons by more data collection and analysis, better data-
sharing, joint research initiatives and creating an evidence-based report on global
trafficking trends.