Stop the Traffic: The Exploitation of Filipino Women

Abstract

It is estimated that in the Philippines, the number of trafficked women ranges from 300,000 to 400,000, while the number of children ranges from 60,000 to 100,000. The country has internal trafficking too, of women and children from rural areas, particularly the Visayas and Mindanao, to urban areas, such as Metro Manila and Cebu, for sexual exploitation or forced labor as domestic workers, factory workers, or in the drug trade. In Asia, Japan has always been rated as a "Tier 2" (which means that they do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards for the elimination if this trade; in 2007 the Philippines was also rated a Tier 2), ever since 2001. Japan is a major destination country for trafficked women from the Philippines ( as well as Chinese-Taipei.) This thesis reviews the fastest-growing crime in the whole world, which is Human Trafficking. It further focuses on the different economics, social and political factors that play a huge role in trafficking in the Philippines. It is recommended that the Philippine Government try to end the disheartening corruption which helps fun this crime, and develop more programs to be able to put an end to it.