Red Cross helps save Pinays from sex trafficking

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) assisted three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were victims of sex trafficking in Ivory Coast in West Africa.

The OFWs arrived safely back in the Philippines and are now under the custody of the Red Cross where they will undergo medical check-up.

Reports said they were recruited last March by two Filipinos identified as Mirasol and Arnold Granada.

They said they were enticed to work abroad because of the promised salary of P150,000 per month as cashiers for an establishment in Europe.

The group left on March 27 but were shocked to find themselves in Western Africa.

They were met by bar owner Noemi Carnaje Shen, a Filipina married to a Taiwanese. There, they were told that each of them had a debt worth US$6,000. They would have to pay the debt by working in the bar as guest relations officers.

The owner allegedly did not feed them for three weeks to force them to look for customers at the pier.

Luckily, the three managed to prevent being sexually abused. One of them sought help with the use of her mobile phone.

The Red Cross immediately called the attention of the foreign affairs department to help repatriate the three OFWs.

The PNRC also tapped the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest the people who recruited the OFWs. Report by Joey Villarama, ABS-CBN News

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