PH Urges Member States to “Get the Traffickers”

Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. reads the Philippine statement during the Third Committee General Discussion on the Advancement of Women. (New York PM photo)

NEW YORK 18 October 2018 – The Philippines articulates its position against trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, during the Third Committee General Discussion on the Advancement of Women on 08 October 2018.

“The Philippines supports the proposition that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addresses sex trafficking, but eradicating poverty will not solve trafficking,” Permanent Representative to the UN in New York Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said in his statement.

“SDGs is only half the solution. Yes, educating imparts a greater sense of self-worth in vulnerable women and girls. But when the situation is dire, education is useless: either go with your abductors or die; either stay in captivity or be tortured”, the Ambassador added.

Ambassador Locsin urged member states to get the traffickers by any means sufficient, bearing in mind human rights and international laws.

The Philippines tabled the biennial resolution “Trafficking in Women and Girls,” which invites governments to take steps to ensure that criminal justice procedures are sensitive to the situation of trafficked women and girls.

The updating of the text of the resolution is currently facilitated by Philippines in the Third Committee. END

For more information, visit www.newyorkpm.dfa.gov.ph / www.un.int/philippines or https://www.facebook.com/PHMissionNY/.