In DC, Migrant Workers Office, Polaris Launch Human Trafficking Awareness Seminar Series

A total of 57 Filipino migrant workers and community leaders from the United States, the Caribbean, and neighboring countries in Central and South America participated in the first session of the Human Trafficking Awareness Series, launched by the MWO-WDC, via Zoom on January 31, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Migrant Workers Office of the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. (MWO-WDC), in partnership with Polaris, a U.S. based non-government organization leading the efforts to combat human trafficking, launched the Human Trafficking Awareness Series on 31 January 2025 for Filipino migrant workers and community leaders in the United States, Caribbean and neighboring countries in Central and South America.

The seminar series will have a total of six sessions scheduled throughout the year. The series took off with an introductory course on Human Trafficking, which was attended by 57 overseas Filipino workers and migrant leaders in the U.S., Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Mexico, Panama, Belize and the Philippines. The session focused on the concept, modalities, victims and perpetrators of human trafficking.

Human trafficking experts and case specialists Jessica Cox and Laurel Downie from Polaris and the National Human Trafficking Hotline served as resource speakers. Consul General Donna Rodriguez, Labor Attaché Saul De Vries and Welfare Officer Mae Codilla, meanwhile, provided introductory and closing messages on the subject.

The session provided an introductory course on human trafficking, focusing on its concepts, modalities, and the victims and perpetrators involved.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Section of MWO-WDC organized the seminar. Seminar moderator Freya Palad explained that the series launching coincided with the National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a period dedicated to raising awareness and educating the public about how to identify and prevent human trafficking.

In 2024, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez signed the Memorandum of Collaborative Agreement with Polaris on behalf of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac. The human trafficking seminar series is one of the projects outlined under the agreement, which is intended to deepen the understanding of Filipino migrants on human trafficking and empower them to be part of the solution in preventing and eliminating this form of human exploitation.

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