To avoid this, relief should be strategic to help victims rebuild their lives MANILA - More women and young girls may be forced into prostitution as families lost their properties and sources of livelihood due to the string of calamities that recently devastated the country, a women’s group said Wednesday. In a press conference in Quezon City, the Coalition against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) said that natural calamities, like tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng, increase women’s and childen’s vulnerability to the flesh trade. “We may see the effects of the disaster after a few months, when the relief is not enough and when the affected people are not able to rebuild their lives,” Jean Enriquez, executive director of CATW-AP, told Newsbreak. Storms Ondoy and Pepeng have left hundreds of people dead, displaced thousands of families in Luzon, and caused billion-pesos worth of damage to properties and agriculture. Enriquez expressed concern that women, especially those who are staying in evacuation centers, would be lured into prostitution after public interest in post-disaster operations dissipates and if the relief provided to the victims is not strategic. “They will become more vulnerable if it’s just relief goods and there is no re-building and rehabilitation,” she added. Pattern in Asia
Enriquez said Malaysia saw an increase in the number of cases of trafficking for prostitution after the Asian tsunami while women and children were sold as brides, servants and prostitutes after massive floodings in the Indian state of Bihar.
She said that in the Philippines, incidence of prostitution also went up during the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
The disaster, she said, forced women in the evacuation centers to sell themselves to local and foreign customers, especially in the cities of Olongapo and Angeles.
Enriquez, however, said that they were no exact figures on the number of women involved in prostitution during the aftermath of the Mt. Pinatubo since these cases were not well-documented and is based on testimonials of former commercial sex workers.
“Right now, the increase [in the number of women engaging in prostitution] has not yet been observed, but based on that, [there shows a] trend across the region that incidence of prostitution and trafficking increase after the aftermath of disasters,” Enriquez added.
Legislation needed
The group also called for the passage of House Bill 970 or the Anti-Prostitution Act, which seeks to impose penalties on businessmen involved in prostitution and provide support services to the victims.
The first version of the bill was filed in 2000. However, the bill, Enriquez said, “barely moved” in the Congress and is sidetracked since most politicians are already busy preparing for next year’s election and are using the disaster to gain popularity among voters.
“Apparently there is no urgency for legislators to enact such bill because prostitution is not even their priority issue,” said Belen Antoque, president of Lawig Bubai, a group composed of women who used to be involved in prostitution.
Enriquez said that in the absence of national laws, local governments should enact ordinances addressing this problem.
So far, she said, only Olongapo City and Quezon City have anti-prostitution local ordinances.Report by Jesus F. Llanto, Newsbreak.
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