The Coalition Against Trafficking in Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), based in Manila, the Philippines, is the regional office of the oldest international coalition for the abolition of modern sexual slavery. It has Consultative Status II with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It campaigns and builds regional and national partnerships to influence policies and programmes of states and regional bodies, transforms public consciousness, and empowers women and communities towards the eradication of sexual exploitation and all forms of violence against women (VAW).

This 18-month project by the ‘Coalition Against Trafficking in Women in Asia Pacific‘ (CATW-AP) responds to the shrinking civil space through advocacy and works to end violence against women. It builds files with evidence of violence and abuse towards women, children, youth and people with disabilities from the government’s war on drugs and extra-judicial killings. Legal advocacy is employed by the research and documented cases on the possibility of demanding compensation for the victims from the authorities, as part of accessing justice. The research data will also be packaged for social media to change the discourse on the basic problems in the affected communities and in understanding drug abuse. This project seeks to change the perception of both the duty bearers and the general public around this sensitive and burning topic.

CATW-AP has been in the Steering Committee of the biggest coalition of human rights advocates called iDEFEND or In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement since its inception in July 2016, in the wake of the extra-judicial killings. Given its para-legal capacity, it has given legal advice and linked the distressed women to lawyers, as well as psycho-social assistance to a few survivors. It also conducted initial research on the impact to women of said killings and conducted actions to highlight the impact of such to women. Through this new project, CATW-AP hopes to expand the reach and impact of its previous initiatives.