"It's difficult for women like me," she said with courage and grace. "There's
discrimination every step of the way. Sometimes, I feel I am no longer clean."
Like many other victims of trafficking and prostitution, Lydia has learned to
put on a brave front before a disapproving society.
Raised in a broken family in the Bicol region, Lydia learned early in life that
women were the disadvantaged gender in a male-dominated society.
She was sexually assaulted by a relative. She filed charges against her
attacker, but without witnesses, the case did not prosper.
Wanting to escape from her past, she went with a recruiter who promised her a
job that paid P1,000 a day as a saleslady in Olongapo City. During the
"interview," she was drugged and taken to a night club.
With no money and resources, she became a stripper who went "all the way."
Before long, she was sleeping with customers for a price. Later, she gave birth
to three children "of mixed parentage," meaning, she never actually knew their
fathers. To numb her misery, she turned to drugs and alcohol.
But that's all behind her now. An advocacy group helped empower Lydia. Now she
is working to eradicate what had once been her only source of living.
At the forum organized by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia
Pacific and the UP Institute of Human Rights, Lydia wore a T-shirt that said it
all: "Ang babae hindi negosyo, kundi buong tao (A woman is not a source of
livelihood, but a whole human being)."
No Fanfare
Last week, the International Day of No Prostitution came and went with little
fanfare. But women's rights advocates used the occasion to raise the problems
on the implementation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act or Republic Act
No. 9208.
CATW-AP and IHR gathered law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, lawmakers and
civil society groups to discuss how the law could protect trafficked and
prostituted women.
According to Patricia Sison-Arroyo, executive director of the International
Justice Mission, the law actually provided protection for trafficked persons
through Section 17 of RA 9208.
However, she said the police often arrested prostitutes on the basis of
anti-vagrancy laws, which should no longer be allowed under RA 9208 which
contains a clause saying that all laws inconsistent with it should be repealed.
Arroyo admitted that it was not expressly stated in RA 9208 if the
anti-vagrancy laws were included in the clause.
Bantay Bugaw
The lawyer also raised the liability of the patrons of trafficked and
prostituted persons. Under the law, customers convicted of using the services
of trafficked persons are penalized with six months to one year of
imprisonment, she said.
On the other hand, "acts that promote trafficking" are punishable by up to 15
years in jail, she said.
"For me, using the services of prostitutes is the biggest act that promotes
trafficking. They (customers) create demand," Arroyo said.
The CATW-AP has launched a project to raise community awareness on the
trafficking of persons, mobilize local leaders for its prevention, provide
training on the handling of trafficking cases, and institute a support system
for the protection and reintegration into society of the survivors of
trafficking.
Called the Bantay Bugaw Project, it seeks to create a "quick response team"
composed of barangay leaders, police and social workers for the prevention of
trafficking in communities.
The project was introduced to two barangays in the cities of Calbayog and
Zamboanga, and will soon be tested in Quezon City. Next on the list are
Olongapo City, Sorsogon and Mountain Province.
