ePahayagan Blog
NEW REPORT from APIGBV : Intersections of Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence released a report on the Intersections of Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault.
The report integrates analysis, insight, and expertise from advocates and survivors that can serve as a primer for program design for adult, young adult, and youth victims of trafficking; forge collaborations; expand the field’s knowledge of trauma connected to early victimization; and inform safety, healing, empowerment, and justice.
Filipino Bakery Workers Win $15 Million Human Trafficking Suit
Eleven Filipino bakery workers say they won $15 million in damages in a human trafficking lawsuit against a couple who they said forced them to do housework after arriving in the United States and paid them a meagre wages. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles said Friday that a federal judge in Los Angeles granted the judgment on behalf of the workers last week. News story from The Associated Press via Toronto Sun.
Filipina Photographer Xyza Bacani Sheds Light on Human Trafficking in "Modern Slavery" Exhibition
Filipina domestic worker and photographer Xyza Bacani earned a Magnum Fellowship in 2015. In her new solo exhibition "Modern Slavery", Bacani explores themes of resilience and tenacity of victims of human trafficking. "Modern Slavery" is now on view until June 10th at KONG Art Space in Central, Hong Kong. News story from South China Morning Post.
Trafficked Filipino Teachers Win $4.5 Million Lawsuit Over LA-based Recruitment Company
Excerpt: A U.S. appeals court Monday, December 1 upheld a jury’s $4.5 million award to a class of roughly 350 Filipino teachers who accused recruitment companies of demanding they pay massive processing and placement fees or face losing their jobs in Louisiana. A class of 347 Filipino teachers, who came to the United States to work on H-1B guest worker visas, said recruitment agencies and their agents misled them and collected millions of dollars in fees, according to Courthouse News Service. They reportedly paid up to $16,000 each to work in public schools in Louisiana. News story from Inquirer.net.
Tricked and Indebted on Land, Abused or Abandoned at Sea unveils abuse of Filipino seafarers
When Eril Andrade left this small village, he was healthy and hoping to earn enough on a fishing boat on the high seas to replace his mother’s leaky roof.
Seven months later, his body was sent home in a wooden coffin: jet black from having been kept in a fish freezer aboard a ship for more than a month, missing an eye and his pancreas, and covered in cuts and bruises, which an autopsy report later concluded had been inflicted before death.
Story from Ian Urbina, New York Times.