Empowering Survivors of Trafficking and Violence in the Philippines

In the Philippines, human trafficking, which includes forced labor, sexual exploitation, and organ removal, remains a large problem. The country has one of the highest estimated numbers of people exploited by human trafficking. Of the many people who have experienced trafficking, countless have also experienced Gender-Based Violence (GBV), such as intimate partner violence or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Survivors who leave violent situations often face financial insecurity, which can leave them at risk of further exploitation and violence. 

A new article from the journal Nitel Sosyal Bilimler (Qualitative Social Sciences) dives into how the Barug program, a matched savings and financial literacy program in the Philippines, improved the lives of ten Filipina survivors of human trafficking and GBV. The authors of the study used qualitative research methods to augment quantitative data, allowing a more complete understanding of how such programs address the specific concerns of a vulnerable population. Elizabeth Hentschel, the Bok Center Global Health Pedagogy Fellow at the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator, was a co-author on the study. 

The Barug program assists survivors of human trafficking and GBV by combining lessons on budgeting and saving with individual and peer support and a promise to match the amount of money saved while in the program one-to-one, doubling the amount saved. In the study, the researchers interviewed ten female graduates of the Barug program to see the qualitative impact the program had beyond the numbers.

The study found the three-pronged approach was transformative in the lives of the ten interviewees. The program empowered the women to escape cycles of debt and create financial stability. It bolstered their confidence and belief in the future. The program also helped survivors improve relationships with their families. In Asian cultures, adult children are expected to financially support their parents. For survivors who were often in debt, added familial pressure created tension and conflict. The curriculum taught them how to negotiate with their families about money.

Hentschel believed the culturally specific aspect of the program was important to its success and was personally exciting to see. An earlier project she was involved in included similar qualitative work for adapting suicide prevention protocol for Filipino survivors of human trafficking.

The power of conducting such qualitative studies is that it can begin to unravel how and why interventions work in people’s real lives. It can bring light to the stories of survivors who have suffered from human trafficking and GBV.

“Quantitative research is important for a lot of things, but it’s not a really good resource for highlighting the stories of small groups of marginalized people,” said Hentschel. “We were able to get so much really interesting and high-quality data from these individuals that we definitely wouldn't be able to if we just highlighted the quantitative findings from the study.”