Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, officially designated as Republic Act No. 9208, is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2444 and House Bill No. 4432. It was enacted and passed by Congress of the Philippines' Senate of the Philippines and House of Representatives of the Philippines (12th Congress of the Philippines, 2001–2004) assembled on May 12, 2003, and signed into law (List of Philippine laws) by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on May 26, 2003. It institutes policies to eliminate and punish human trafficking, especially women and children, establishing the necessary institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked persons. It aims "to promote human dignity, protect the people from any threat of violence and exploitation, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to support trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into the mainstream of society." R.A. 9208 made the Philippines one of the few Asian countries in Asia that have enacted an anti-trafficking legislation. The law establishes an Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), first chaired by Raul M. Gonzalez, and composed of government agencies, non-government organizations and other civic organizations for the effective formulation of a comprehensive and integrated program to prevent and suppress the trafficking in persons. The Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), PMRW member organization, and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) supported the successful passage of this law. This penal law was implemented by the issued "RULES AND REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING REPUBLIC ACT NO 9208 – Anti-Trafficking Act," pursuant to the authority of IACAT under Sec. 29 of R.A. 9208. Background The elimination of slavery throughout the world was campaigned by early abolitionists, but it was not the objective of the earliest organised British movements. The Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which established the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in Britain in 1787, campaigned for an end to the Transatlantic slave trade from Western Africa to the New World, which Britain dominated. Much later, the Anti-Slavery Society became the everyday name of 2 different British organizations. The first was the 1823 Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions (Slavery Abolition Act 1833), and the second, the 1839 The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society – which is presently known as Anti-Slavery International. In America, the United States federal government severely punishes human trafficking both within its borders and beyond, making it, a federal crime under Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 1584 makes it a crime to force a person to work against his will, whether the compulsion is effected by use of force, threat of force, threat of legal coercion or by "a climate of fear" (an environment wherein individuals believe they may be harmed by leaving or refusing to work); Section 1581 similarly makes it illegal to force a person to work through "debt servitude." Human