Human trafficking victims lodge 11,000 calls to PHL hotline

More than a year after a 24-hour hotline against human trafficking was established, the government received about 11, 000 phone calls from victims and their families, the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) said. Dubbed as "modern-day slavery," human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. A news release of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), said since the 1343 hotline (operating on a 24/7 basis) was established a year and a half ago, "the hotline has received 11,000 calls from local and overseas sources, with recorded 165 case calls, of which 52 are reportedly victims of human trafficking." The “Laban Kontra Human Trafficking” hotline has been launched in March 2011.  Still, the CFO said "many victims still do not file charges against their recruiters." Anti-trafficking in Persons Act In March this year, representatives of the Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) sat down with members of the media to explain the human trafficking issue in bite-sized terms. Patty Sison-Arroyo said trafficking is determined by The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (RA No. 9280) with the following elements combined:

• acts (such as recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, receive);
• means (threat, coercion, abduction, fraud or deception, abuse of power); and
• purpose for exploitation (for sexual, labor, or even physical abuse that comes in the removal of organs).

• sex trafficking (prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation);
• forced labor (slavery, debt bondage, involuntary servitude);
• organ trafficking; and
• children in armed activities.

Human trafficking scams

 

Meanwhile, the CFO warned against traffickers using "fake" or "arranged" marriages as the basis for transporting Filipino women.