Human trafficking victims given new lease of life

One of the best ways to heal victims of human trafficking and child exploitation is to have them focus on their future.

With this in mind, the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) and the Stop Trafficking and Exploitation of People through Unlimited Potential (Step Up) have partnered to help victims of trafficking regain some sense of normalcy and stability through education in information technology (IT). 

Step Up, a program of the Microsoft Unlimited Potential, is providing IT skills to women and young children who are victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse. 

“After going through a very traumatic experience, trafficking victims need support and guidance as they return to their communities. After graduating from the training, these young women and children are less susceptible to trafficking and have the knowledge that allows them to explore other job opportunities,” said VFF president Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda.

Over 5,000 individuals have taken the Step Up curriculum and 19-year-old Roseann is one of them. 

Roseann said she was a sorry sight when she was rescued by the VFF, the Anti-Slavery International and Interpol from a white slavery ring in West Africa. 

At the VFF center, she would cry every day and not eat, wondering if there was still hope for her in the future. 

She went to West Africa after a company promised her a lucrative job, but she ended up as a prostitute forced to have sex with different foreigners every day.

Roseann said she only wanted to give her family a better life but she paid a dear price. In West Africa, she was locked in a room with other girls without food and salary. She thought that was the end of her life until she was rescued by the VFF and other international agencies. 

At the VFF center, the counselors advised her to take IT lessons instead of moping every day, and she agreed, slowly gaining back her confidence and will to live.

After she finished the program, Roseann returned home and since then, has been helping her mother run a small business by preparing their market list and keeping track of their inventory.

Today, Roseann is picking up the pieces of her life and starting all over again. 

Akhtar Badsah, Microsoft Corp. senior manager for community affairs, said Roseann’s story inspires them and fuels their desire to reach out not only to victims of human trafficking and abuse but also the poor who lack opportunities to study and acquire IT skills. 

“Through Step Up, we ensure that people not only have a second chance (but also) have the best opportunity to achieve their full potential,” he said.