HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE PHILIPPINES
Text by Rachel Ramirez and Laura Paddison. Full story on CNN's special report "How the climate crisis fuels gender inequality"
Photographs by Lisa Marie David for CNN.
One of the most pernicious ways the climate crisis can worsen gender inequality is by increasing the risk of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The climate crisis destroys livelihoods, throws people into poverty, forces them away from their homes and communities — and for women and girls, it exacerbates their vulnerability to sexual exploitation, according to a 2022 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Abusers and traffickers are more able to target women and girls who find themselves in unfamiliar towns or forced into densely populated camps and shelters, crowded with strangers.
In the Philippines, the UN found that human trafficking increased in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, which killed more than 6,000 people and displaced 4.4 million.
Climate scientists expect the frequency of the strongest typhoons and hurricanes to increase significantly in the coming decades, more than doubling by 2050 in nearly all regions of the world.
The Philippines has numerous organizations dedicated to trying to end human trafficking. The People's Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance (PREDA) Foundation helps free women and girls from brothels and sex traffickers and provides a refuge for survivors.
