3. To document the State’s compliance with the 2016 UN CEDAW Concluding Observations and
the continuing gaps in the fulfillment of the obligation to address trafficking;
4. To develop recommendations grounded from the experiences of CSOs and government
officers workingng on the issue of trafficking and from trafficking survivors;
Pursuant to this project, the Commission was able to work with three dedicated CSO partners
working in the field of preventing trafficking in women and girls. From May of 2021 until the end of
the year, the Commission partnered with three CSOs. The first CSO partner is The Coalition Against
Trafficking in Women - Asia and the Pacific. CATW-AP is a non-profit organization that promotes
women’s human rights, fighting sexual exploitation. The second CSO partner is Talikala Inc. Talikala is
a non-governmental organization run by women for women, which offer support, advice, training and
counselling to women and girls who have been forced into sex trade in Davao City, Philippines. The
last CSO partner is from Cebu City, Children’s Legal Bureau. Children’s Legal Bureau is a non-stock,
no-profit organization based in Cebu City that envisions a just world for children. CLB works towards
its vision through three main programs and a support services program. Laban Bata is focused on
rendering development assistance to children in the province of Cebu, Child Rights Protection Unit
(CRPU) organizes the five pillars of justice to collaborate in protecting children at municipal and city
levels, Juvenile Justice Program advocates for implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act,
restorative justice and diversion for children in conflict with the law.
The three CSO partners for the situationers were also the Commission’s partners in holding a
a Consultation on Support Services for women and girls survivors of trafficking last July 30 of 2021, in
time for international day against trafficking. The consultation surfaced continuing gaps in the delivery
of support services for survivors of trafficking, the need for increased financial and psychosocial
assistance, and the urgent call for the participation of survivors in the planning and evaluation of
programs crafted for them. The consultation was attended by representatives of the Department of
Social Welfare and Development, thru its focal person for recovery and reintegration porgram for
trafficked persons. Likewise present were the women survivors of trafficking who also participated in
the research conducted by the CSO partners. Continuing the partnership and providing a platform to
validate the findings of the research/situationers, the Commission with the CSO partners also held a
Survivor’s Summit as a kick off of the 18 Day campaign to end violence against women.
In this compilation of three situationers, the Commission is pleased to present the work of our
three CSO partners in providing a briefer on the issues of trafficking in women and girls in their
different areas. These situationers tell the stories and the lived experiences of women and girls
survivors of trafficking and the organizations that respond and support them. They also reveal the
gaps in the State’s fulfillment of its obligation to prevent and address trafficking in persons and to
provide support for survivors of trafficking. We hope that these situationers, with their case studies
and recommendations from survivors and CSO partners, will guide government agencies, including
the Commission, in fulfilling our respective mandates to address and prevent trafficking in women and
girls.
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