Mental and physical health support is low. Few women use contraception or protection from AIDS or other STDs. Many of the prostituted women are actually children - their makeup and clothes may indicate otherwise but their underdeveloped bodies give them away. The problem is very complex and solutions will not be easy. Corruption in the police force and among politicians is reported to be prevalent, and the Conference heard that the powerful Church often turns a blind eye to what is going on.
Poverty is part of the problem but the big picture goes further than that.
Prostitution is also an issue of the status of women in a society and the amount of power they hold to free themselves from exploitation. My own tours of the bars and discussions with bar and street workers in Manila supports the view that little such power is held by Filipino women. Unfortunately they are small and have little funding. The conference received wide press coverage on Filipino television and in the press. Two days after the conference, the Philippine President, Fidel Ramos, ordered an investigation into sex tours to the Philippines organised by foreigners.