2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

P H I L I P P I N E S
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The Government of Peru does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts
to do so. In early 2007, the government passed a
comprehensive law which prohibits all forms of
trafficking in persons. The government also made
solid progress in law enforcement actions against
traffickers and conducted widespread anti-trafficking
training for key officials. In the coming year, the
government should intensify its efforts to expedite
and prosecute trafficking cases and increase protection
services for victims.
Prosecution
The Government of Peru demonstrated solid progress
in investigating and prosecuting traffickers over
the last year. In January 2007, the Peruvian Congress
passed Law 28950, which criminally prohibits all
forms of trafficking and prescribes tougher penalties
against traffickers, while authorizing undercover
and covert police operations and providing greater
protection for trafficking victims and witnesses. The
government now is drafting implementing regulations
for the new law. It prescribes penalties of 8
to 15 years’ imprisonment for convicted trafficking
offenders, with increased penalties of 20 to 25 years’
imprisonment in cases with aggravated circumstances.
Such penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other grave
crimes. In 2006 and early 2007, the government
opened 11 trafficking cases, which represents a solid
increase over 2005, when it opened four cases. A
total of 13 trafficking cases are now pending before
Peruvian courts. In December 2006, a Peruvian
judge sentenced a trafficker to 10 years in prison. The
government also launched a computerized casetracking
system, and conducted more than 2,750
raids of brothels, finding and removing almost 400
minors from commercial sexual exploitation. The
government, with NGO assistance, also conducted
anti-trafficking training for 1,389 law-enforcement
and social-service officials across the country. There
were no confirmed reports of official complicity with
trafficking.
Protection
The government made limited progress in its efforts
to protect victims during the reporting period. It
did not penalize victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of their being trafficked. The
government showed modest efforts in identifying
victims and referring them to government-funded
domestic-violence shelters, although these facilities
lack specialized services for trafficking victims. In
March 2006, the government, with NGO assistance,
initiated a toll-free hotline for potential trafficking
victims and for referring cases to police. Peru
provides similar legal rights to foreign victims as it
does to its citizens, and also allows foreign victims
to remain in Peru to escape hardship or retribution
in their own countries. Although Peru encourages
victims to assist in the prosecution of traffickers,
the uneven application of witness-protection laws
continues to prevent some victims from doing so.
Prevention
The government took strong steps to expand its
anti-trafficking training and prevention efforts
during the reporting period. The Women’s Ministry
conducted all-day anti-trafficking workshops for
more than 2,000 municipal officials and community
leaders across the country. The government also
trained more than 700 teachers and school directors
on how to prevent trafficking and incorporated
anti-trafficking instruction into school programs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows anti-trafficking
videos to passport applicants and disseminates
videos and brochures to embassies and consulates
worldwide. The Ministry of Tourism initiated a
campaign for hotels to sign a “code of conduct”
against child-sex tourism, which is prevalent in
tourist destinations such as Iquitos and Cuzco.
PHILIPPINES (Tier 2)
The Philippines is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children
trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation
and forced labor. A significant number of Filipino
men and women who migrate abroad for work are
subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Japan, South Africa, North America, and Europe.
Women and children are also trafficked within the
Philippines, primarily from rural areas, such as the
Visayas and Mindanao, to urban areas for forced
labor as domestic workers, and factory workers,
and in the drug trade, and for sexual exploitation. A
smaller number of women are occasionally trafficked
from the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.),
South Korea, Japan, and Russia to the Philippines
for sexual exploitation. Foreign tourists, particularly
other Asians, sexually exploit women and children
in the Philippines.
The Government of the Philippines does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The Philippines govern-