This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.

This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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Exit denied: women losing the right to leave in the Philippines

By: []

Date: 2021-11

Public discussions following the murders of Asian massage workers in Atlanta have exposed the longstanding surveillance of Asian massage workers and the criminalisation of sex workers in the United States. These examples of state violence are connected to a global pattern of policing of migrant sex workers, often justified as anti-trafficking measures. They produce not only spectacular forms of violence, such as arrests, deportations, and death, but also curtail women workers’ freedom of movement and generate migrant vulnerabilities.

For a decade now, I have been researching the experiences of Filipino women who migrate to Asian cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore to engage in sex work. They earn their income through hostess work, which involves entertaining men in nightlife venues such as bars and nightclubs. To earn more, many also provide sexual services. Some choose sex work abroad over low-wage jobs in the Philippines, including factory, service, and retail work. Others enter into it after being ‘aged out’ by local hiring practices that discriminate against women age 25 and over. As independent sex workers, they are not controlled by international ‘pimps’ and criminal syndicates. In other words, they are not trafficked persons.

Nevertheless, their migration has been restricted and their livelihoods imperilled by the Philippine government’s anti-trafficking policy of ‘offloading’ passengers suspected to be victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment as well as suspected undocumented workers. Implemented in 2010 after the United States effectively pressured the Philippine government to enforce anti-trafficking measures, the ‘Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International-bound Passengers’ aim to prevent human trafficking by screening all international-bound Filipino travellers and empowering the Bureau of Immigration to suspend Filipinos’ constitutionally enshrined “right to travel” whenever there is a “reasonable detection of a trafficking situation”.

Restrained ‘for their own good’

Strict screening of international-bound Filipinos primarily focuses on those leaving the country as tourists, which is assumed to be the primary channel for illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and undocumented migration. Profiling is central to the monitoring of Filipino tourists, and their financial resources, current employment, levels of education, appearance, demeanour, and destinations are all closely scrutinised. Based on subjective assessment, immigration officers determine whether a Filipino traveller is a ‘bona fide’ tourist or someone traveling with a ‘doubtful’ intent. Those who fall in the latter category are not allowed to depart.
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/exit-denied-women-losing-the-right-to-leave-in-the-philippines/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

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