Social worker Carmela Bastes had dedicated years of her career to helping catch sex traffickers and supporting their victims in the Filipino city of Tacloban. Then, a decade ago, Typhoon Haiyan struck.
Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people and displaced millions in the Philippines, triggered a humanitarian crisis that provided fertile ground for traffickers in the hard-hit Eastern Visayas region.
Besides making more women and girls vulnerable to sexual exploitation, the 2013 typhoon — known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda — wreaked havoc on law enforcement efforts against the traffickers.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.