My Refuge House
In 2014, almost two-thirds (65.8%) of the estimated 35.8 million people in modern slavery globally were in the Asia Pacific region. Forced labor and sex trafficking of men, women, and children within the Philippines remains a significant problem, with cyber-trafficking continuing to increase. Women and children from rural communities, areas affected by disaster or conflict, and impoverished urban centers are subjected to domestic servitude, forced begging, forced labor in small factories, and sex trafficking.
Hundreds of victims are subjected to sex trafficking in well-known and highly visible business establishments that cater to Filipinos’ and foreign tourists’ demand for commercial sex acts. Child sex trafficking, which remains a serious problem, also occurs in private residences, facilitated by taxi drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. While the Philippines is a developing nation, child sex trafficking (both in-person and cyber) is largely fueled by first world demand, from pedophiles and sex tourists including citizens from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and countries in Northeast Asia and Europe,..
In the Philippines, traffickers seek out and exploit children and families impacted by poverty. Very young Filipino children are coerced to perform sex acts for Internet broadcast to paying foreign viewers. Unfortunately, this cybersex trafficking is on the rise; this means that girls like our girls at MRH become targets for sexual abuse via a webcam from anywhere in the world. When they are rescued they need places to help restore their health and worth.
A Safe Place
My Refuge House is a safe and healing environment in Cebu, Philippines, created for girls who have been rescued, so they might find restoration and have a future filled with hope.
When girls are rescued, there are few places in the region that cater specifically to survivors of trafficking. My Refuge House is dedicated to providing access to the best care we can in order to effectively alleviate the trauma the girls have experienced, and to give them a hopeful future.
My Refuge House provides counseling, education, livelihood skills, and job skills training, as well as dental and medical care through qualified doctors. Many of the girls in our home come from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds and find great strength in the Bible. We offer spiritual development classes and retreats and a chance to worship God together.
Prevention: Increasing our Impact
We believe that poverty should never be a hindrance to protect the life of a child. Our girls and their stories continue to inspire our efforts to educate individuals, families and communities about the danger and risks of abuse and exploitation of children. Our work to educate more people about these turned more difficult when CoViD-19 crisis started. Quarantine increased the time people spend online and led to the isolation of family units in their respective homes. Both of these factors appear to have contributed to the rise in cases of abuse and online sexual exploitation over the past few months.
In a statement released by the Child’s Rights Network, this coalition of organizations has noted that sexual predators are taking advantage of the large-scale shift to online means of communication brought about by the ongoing quarantine. It also expressed concern over the impact of the worsening economic situation on families and how it may “push adults to resort to peddling children to sexual predators online due to the lucrative nature of these activities” (Mateo, 2020).
In the face of these ongoing abuses and during the community quarantine, My Refuge House through its advocacy program, iSpeak, shifted its advocacy efforts online. Unable to conduct in-person awareness seminars, the program is now utilizing web-based platforms to conduct training sessions. We are also utilizing social media platforms to inform internet users about human trafficking, abuse, and online sexual exploitation, posting infographics and news articles.
More information at myrefugehouse.org.
