Human trafficking convictions in 1st half 2021 down from last year
THE JUSTICE department recorded 25 convictions on human trafficking cases in the first half of 2021, a 73% decrease from 92 convictions in the same period last year.
Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, however, said the data in the department’s mid-year report is still expected to increase as “some courts don’t submit data mid-year.”
Most courts, she said, send reports on convictions towards the end of the year.
“Some even submit very late,” Ms. Villar said, citing that the Department of Justice actually received some 2020 data just in March this year.
Of the 25 convictions from Jan. 1 to June 30 this year, a total of 28 traffickers were involved.
The number of victims in these cases total 73, of whom 57 were minors while 16 were adults.
In last year’s 92 convictions, a total of 85 human traffickers were imprisoned for victimizing 207 females and 24 males, of whom 149 were minors and 82 adults. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
