Initiatives

In September 2014, RMF began the Mobile Midwives initiative: a 3-year pilot program to empower former victims of the sex trade and equip them to provide women’s health services, preventative screening (such as PAP smears), and a safe place for current victims and at-risk youth.

Through the Mobile Midwives initiative, RMF will sponsor 30 former victims of the sex trade in a 2-year, accredited midwifery program (through the well-established government agency, Philippine Technical Educational Skills and Development Agency) and training at the University of Santo Tomas Psycho Trauma Clinic. Candidates will be selected through applications, essays, and interviews. After taking the national midwife licensure exams, graduates will be placed in one of 10 mobile Jeepney clinics (5 operating in Metro Manila and 5 in Cebu City). Through these mobile, accessible clinics, RMF estimates we will be able to serve a minimum of 200 people a day, which amounts to 520,000 people in one year. Averaging 1.14 USD per screening, Mobile Midwives will be a cost-effective, life-saving, high impact program.

The need for such a program is overwhelming. The U.S. Department of State reported between 300,000 to 400,000 women and 60,000 to 100,000 children trafficked annually in the Philippines. Most of these victims are caught in prostitution rings or child pornography, especially in major cities, such as Manila and Cebu. In addition to the prevalence of these industries that harm women and children, there is a scarcity of care for women’s health; maternity wards are over-crowded in major cities like Manila, and nonexistent in many rural areas.