MORE female individuals continue to be victims of human trafficking.
This was revealed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 6.
If compared with men, 83 percent of the total victims of human trafficking from year 2014 were women. This translates to 55 women out of 66 victims.
The remaining 17 percent were men or a total of 11 persons.
“Most of their cases were illegal recruitment and prostitution. We would like to warn our ladies from falling prey to illegal recruiters as well as those who may force them to prostitution,” said Rebecca P. Geamala, regional director of DSWD6.
Geamala said DSWD6 provided the victims with livelihood assistance amounting to P320,000.
“We also provided counseling services to them. Aside from that, we provided transportation and medical assistance. But these are curative measures already. What we want the Ilonggos to practice is vigilance from not being victimized,” she said.
If broken down by province, there were 29 from Iloilo; Negros Occidental, 12; Capiz, four; Aklan, three; and Guimaras, one. A total of 17 cases are from other parts of the country outside of Region 6.
Most fall prey to the trick of illegal recruiters and those who force their victims to prostitution because of offers for high pay and perks./ dswd6/May Grecia-Rago