Tags: Rescue Sex Trafficking Southeast Asia
IJM social worker sits with sex trafficking survivors last
weekend during rescue.
An IJM social worker, on the right, sits with the two sex
trafficking survivors. She stayed with them to help them feel more comfortable
and understand that the police and others were there to help them.
CEBU, THE PHILIPPINES – Two friends who left their tiny
island home to be nannies together were rescued last weekend from the small,
shabby resort where they were instead trafficked into the sex trade. The teens,
15 and 17, had been trapped on an island more than a day's journey from their
home. Without money or their own phones, they had no way of calling home for
help.
An IJM social worker, on the right, sits with the two sex
trafficking survivors. She stayed with them to help them feel more comfortable
and understand that the police and others were there to help them.
After several months, the 15-year-old managed to get a hold
of a cell phone. She called her mother, frantic for help. She shared how she
and her friend had been transported to an island far from their home: They had
travelled overnight on a boat, then had been driven for hours in a van. When
they finally arrived, there were not good jobs waiting for them. Instead, the
girls were sold for sex.
Sending Rescue
Her mother promised to get her daughter help right away. She
immediately sought help from local authorities, who helped her file a police
report. The local police unit called Cebu's regional anti-trafficking law
enforcement unit—a specialized force within the Philippine National Police that
has been trained by IJM on anti-trafficking techniques.
The specialized anti-trafficking police coordinated with IJM
Cebu and local police to plan a rescue operation as soon as possible. The
rescue team quickly travelled together to the small resort, where they found
the 15-year-old girl and her friend.
The two friends had never separated. They said they had
first been brought to a bar where they were locked in a room, , literally
imprisoned. They had then been abused at three different bars before finally
ending up in this dingy resort, where they were forced to serve customers.
"These girls were the perfect target for
traffickers," explained IJM Cebu attorney Lucille Dejito. She said the
girls told her how they had managed to escape from the first bar where they had
been imprisoned. But in their "freedom," they had nowhere to go – and
were quickly re-trafficked. Lucille added: "Just try to imagine it: You
are hours from home. You don't know the local language. You don't know anybody.
You don't have anything. You are literally just trying to survive. "
Going Home
On July 21, freedom finally began for the girls. The Cebu
regional anti-trafficking police escorted them to a plane. An IJM social worker
was waiting for them at the airport when they landed. She went with the two
girls to a temporary shelter for sex trafficking survivors, and she will
continue to follow up with them and help them get the long-term aftercare they
need.
The IJM staff on the operation commended the Cebu unit for
responding so quickly and working with other local police to rescue the girls
and arrest the bar owner, who was taken into custody that night. According to
Lucille, "This kind of collaboration is critical between the local law
enforcement—the first responders and often the ones to get the call for
help—and the specialized unit within the Philippine National Police that is
trained on how and what to do in a sex trafficking case."
