Philippines' Children of Shame

Sex tourism is today considered the third biggest illegal trade after drugs and weapons, and is growing fast. Every year, more than 800 million tourists travel the world, of which an estimated 10% are involved in this practice. With some 400,000 prostitutes, the Philippines have become one of the leading destinations in Southeast Asia for sex tourism.  Thousands of children have been born as a result of this trade, and they bear the mark of shame. Their fathers, whatever their nationality, nearly always abandon them. These children grow up marginalized, haunted by a quest for identity.

Philippines’ Children of Shame immerses us in the daily life of these stigmatized kids. Considered pariahs, shunned by their fathers, rejected at school because they are different, they struggle alongside their mothers to find their place in the world.