Davao City-Some non-government organizations in this city will be observing October 5 as the Day of No Prostitution.
It’s a day of no prostitution that includes no pornography, phone sex, cyber sex, mail-order bride services, trafficking, strip dancing, sex tours and prostitution in massage parlors, on the streets.
The city’s celebration is a local version of the International Day of No Prostitution (IDNP) project of the Bay Area IDNP Collective in the USA in 2002.
Also, the no prostitution campaign is the culminating activity of the First Mindanao Conference of Women and Children in Prostitution sponsored by Talikala, Lawig Bubai, Tisaka, and Sidlakan.
These non-government organizations (NGOs) recognize the support of the local government units (LGUs) on such advocacy, as Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte signed in 2005 Proclamation No. 07 that declared October 5 as Day of No Prostitution.
However, these NGOs continue to convince the local government that there is a need of strengthening the efforts as prostitution has not just deeply-rooted in the city but also continues to proliferate, inviting more and more women to engage in such trade.
Figures from the City Health Office showed that there are 2,411 registered prostituted women in the city while an NGO cited some 4,000 prostituted women doing their freelance job.
These groups are against the government’s schemes that encourage prostitution including the occupational permit and appointment cards which are issued to women to work in clubs, and other establishments.
“We firmly believe that as long as the government legitimizes this kind of trade, there will be more women and children who will fall as victims of prostitution,” said Jeanette Ampog of Talikala.
The campaign also urges the city council to pass a resolution in the passage of Senate Bill 2066 or the Anti-Prostitution Bill which seeks to decriminalize the victim of prostitution and punish the perpetrator. (PIA)
