SEEKING AN END TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING
International Justice Mission
SAM INOCENCIO and Andrey Sawchenko of the International Justice Mission discuss the need for law enforcement agencies and the community’s involvement in the fight against human trafficking.
IN the fight against human trafficking, victories ebb and flow; Human rights group International Justice Mission (IJM) acknowledge this. The human trafficking scene in Cebu has a history of botched rescues and dismissed complaints, elusive perpetrators and ungrateful victims. Such a scenario led IJM, which operates in 14 countries, to Manila in 2001. In March last year, IJM decided to put down roots in Cebu. It found itself in tilled soil.
“IJM has come [to Cebu] at a time when there have been a lot of anti-trafficking campaigns that have been building momentum,” says IJM-Cebu director Andrey Sawchenko. It may be a budding non-government organization (NGO) locally, but IJM has seen its share of triumphs. From its Manila office in December 2004, IJM tipped off the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on two pimps who were selling trafficked women for prostitution in Barangay Kamagayan, one of Cebu City’s red-light districts. Six women and three young girls were rescued in that operation. In July 2007, the two pimps became the first to be convicted of violating Republic Act (RA) 9208 in Cebu. RA 9208 is the Anti- Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003. It prescribes grave punishments against traffickers. IJM lawyer Sam Inocencio says that before legislators began drafting RA 9208, different NGOs and religious groups conducted a consultation on it.
Among them was IJM. These other groups, plus law enforcement agencies, are key to the triumphs that IJM has seen, says Sawchenko. “IJM doesn’t have authority to do things on its own. We need to work with the law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and other NGOs,” Sawchenko explains. Its tie-up is with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the government agency tasked to rehabilitate trafficked victims. Victim after-care is so important that it should start the second a rescue operation begins, says Sawchenko. And this is where each triumph is tested. Sawchenko admits that not all rescued victims remain free. “We know that there are some who will choose the sex trade again,” Sawchenko concedes. “They’re not bad people. They’re just making tough decisions.” But there have also been successes. Inocencio says that about 80 out of 120 women and children rescued through IJM intervention in Cebu have successfully gone through rehabilitation. (Taken from the Sun Star Article).
The part of the article that hits home for me, is the need for aftercare. The rescue is just the first step in a long journey to wholeness for the girls. As a Chinese proverb states, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” For all of us at HHCR, we are the ones charged with making sure the survivors make it to the end of the journey. That is what we are committed to, and with God’s help we will accomplish.
Glenn & Nancy
ShareFiled under: News
Trackback Uri