Episode 3: Human Trafficking and Climate change: Understanding Intersections and Strengthening Responses in the Philippines

Free the Slaves Research Officer Dr. Marta Furlan and Southeast Asia Regional manager join the podcast to discuss the research report on the intersection between human trafficking and climate change in the Philippines recently published by FTS. The Report: Human Trafficking and Climate Change: Understanding Intersections and Strengthening Responses in the Philippines contains findings from research by FTS and JPIC-IDC. The research examines the linkages between climate change, climate change-related hazards, and human trafficking in the regions of Eastern Visayas and Caraga (Eastern Philippines). The research finds that communities affected by climate change become exposed to the risk of exploitation by human traffickers. Exploitation can take different forms, but in Eastern Visayas and Caraga it is mostly labor trafficking and forced labor, child hazardous labor, sexual trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), and online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). Recognizing that natural hazards heighten the vulnerability of individuals and communities to exploitation by human traffickers, actions that address climate change-related vulnerabilities become a much-needed strategy to end the conditions that allow human trafficking to exist."