A Comparative Study of Women Trafficked in the Migration Process Patterns, Profiles and Health Consequences of Sexual Exploitation in Five Countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela and the United States) Janice G. Raymond, PhD – International Coordinator Jean D’Cunha, PhD, Thailand Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Indonesia H. Patricia Hynes, United States Zoraida Ramirez Rodriguez, PhD, Venezuela Aida Santos, The Philippines A Comparative Study of Women Trafficked in the Migration Process Patterns, Profiles and Health Consequences of Sexual Exploitation in Five Countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela and the United States) Janice G. Raymond, PhD – International Coordinator Jean D’Cunha, PhD, Thailand Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Indonesia H. Patricia Hynes, United States Zoraida Ramirez Rodriguez, PhD, Venezuela Aida Santos, The Philippines i DEDICATION In Memory of Raquel Edralin-Tiglao Friend, Brave Spirit, Political Prisoner, Woman Warrior in the Struggle Against Violence Against Women, Insightful Counselor, Founder of the Women’s Crisis Center, Manila in the Philippines, and Co-Founder of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Asia Pacific ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank all the women who agreed to be interviewed for this project and gave of their time, experience, and insights. Many of these women who are survivors of trafficking and prostitution consented to be interviewed in spite of the difficulties they experienced in talking about some of these issues. We also thank those NGOs, service providers, advocates, and law enforcement and governmental personnel who spoke with us. In the process of completing this study, several individuals worked on the project who are not named in the country reports. We thank Jan Dahms who investigated the health literature relating to prostitution and trafficking, participated in the first planning meeting, and who also assembled the bibliography; and Russ Lopez who investigated the U.S. migration background information and who also formatted the figures that document the quantitative results. Maria Boniface was a superb translator and labored tirelessly through many versions of this study and at each of our planning meetings. Finally, we acknowledge with gratitude the support of the Ford Foundation who funded this project. We thank especially Reena Marcelo, our former Program Officer, who believed in this project and had the foresight and courage to support it. iii CONTENTS DEDICATION....................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................... iii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 Janice G. Raymond Conceptual Framework ................................................................................... 2 Health, Migration and Trafficking .................................................................. 4 Methods and Organization .............................................................................. 5 PART I – THE NEXUS BETWEEN MIGRATION, TRAFFICKING AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING ......... 8 Janice G. Raymond Migration Trends: Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Venezuela......... 9 Migration of Women ..................................................................................... 10 National and Regional Political and Socio-Economic Context for Women’s Migration ...................................................................................... 10 Gendered Dimensions of Migration ............................................................. 12 Migration, Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation ........................................... 13 The United States .......................................................................................... 14 INDONESIA: MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN ............. 16 Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin and Hartian Silawati Introduction................................................................................................... 16 Migration Trends........................................................................................... 17 How Are Women Trafficked?........................................................................ 18 THE PHILIPPINES: MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN .. 22 Aida F. Santos with assistance from Noreen Belarmino and Raquel B. Ignacio Migration Trends........................................................................................... 22 Factors Promoting Female Migration ........................................................... 23 Regional Socio-economic Context: Impact of the Asian Crisis on Migration ................................................................................................. 24 Gendered Dimensions of Migration Policies: a Profile of Filipina Migrants 25 Conditions of Work and Sexual Exploitation ............................................... 26 Income .......................................................................................................... 26 Marriage Marketing ...................................................................................... 27 Violence against Mail-Order Brides ............................................................. 27 iv THAILAND: MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN................ 29 Jean D’Cunha Migration Trends Among Thai Women ........................................................ 29 Factors Propelling Thai Women to Migrate .................................................. 32 Conditions of Migrant Thai Women ............................................................. 34 Discriminatory Legislation, Policies and Programmes................................. 35 VENEZUELA: MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN ............ 39 Zoraida Ramirez Rodriguez with assistance from Xiomara Linares Gonzalez Migration: Latin America and the Caribbean .............................................. 39 Migration and the Regional Economic Situation .......................................... 39 Latin American and Caribbean Migrant Woman .......................................... 39 Venezuela ...................................................................................................... 40 Venezuela’s Economic Situation and Migration ........................................... 40 Patterns of Trafficking in Clandestine Migration ......................................... 41 Clandestine Migration and Government Corruption .................................... 41 Migrant Women in Venezuela ....................................................................... 42 Gender Inequality in the Media .................................................................... 43 Information on Foreign Migration ................................................................ 44 THE UNITED STATES: MIGRATION AND TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN ....................................................................................................... 47 H. Patricia Hynes Introduction................................................................................................... 47 Migration Trends of Women to the United States......................................... 48 Sex Trafficking into the United States .......................................................... 49 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 51 PART II - INTERVIEW FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS PATTERNS, PROFILES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION.............................................................................. 54 Janice G. Raymond General Background ..................................................................................... 54 Profile of Women Interviewed ...................................................................... 55 Recruitment, Movement and Initiation: Recruiters, Traffickers and Buyers 56 Violence Against Women .............................................................................. 60 Consequences to Women’s Health and Well-Being ...................................... 65 INDONESIA: INTERVIEW FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS, A SURVEY OF TRAFFICKED WOMEN, WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION AND MAIL-ORDER BRIDES ......................................................................... 75 Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin and Hartian Silawati v Research Sites ............................................................................................... 75 Profile of Women Interviewed ...................................................................... 76 Recruitment, Movement and Initiation: Recruiters, Traffickers and Buyers 78 Violence Against Women .............................................................................. 82 Consequences to Women’s Health and Well-Being ...................................... 85 Recommendations......................................................................................... 90 THE PHILIPPINES: INTERVIEW FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS, A SURVEY OF TRAFFICKED WOMEN, WOMEN IN PROSTITUTION AND MAIL-ORDER BRIDES ......................................................................... 91 Aida F. Santos with assistance from Noreen Belarmino and Raquel B. Ignacio Methodology ................................................................................................. 91 Profile of Women Interviewed ...................................................................... 98 Recruitment,