E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.4 page 11 27. RA 8042 identifies the possession of skills as the best defence against abuses. However, the labour export industry is demand driven and the demand is mainly for unskilled work, often unregulated and involving hard working conditions. The Special Rapporteur was concerned to learn that OFWs are often overskilled and overqualified for the jobs they are assigned, which results in the loss of skills. 28. The Special Rapporteur also learned about the efforts of the Government to regulate the overseas artist sector in order to protect women and limit the deployment of clearly unqualified artists, with a view to protecting them from being forced into sex work. However, the high demand for “entertainers” favours illegal practices. Officials of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority reported cases in which testing officers were paid to issue the certifications necessary to obtain entertainer visas. In the 1990s, responding to sensational cases involving Filipino women, the Government established 23 as the minimum age for entertainers. However, migration authorities informed the Special Rapporteur that age requirements are constantly violated and passports easily forged. 29. The Philippines sends abroad an average of 35,000 entertainers each year, about 95 per cent of them to Japan. The Special Rapporteur was informed that upon arrival in Japan, Filipina entertainers are often required to surrender their documents to the employer and are obliged to work as hostesses, stripteasers and sex workers. Reports of Filipina children working in the “entertainment business” in Japan were also provided by individuals and NGOs. The Special Rapporteur interviewed a 28-year-old Filipino woman who said that when she was 21 she was introduced by her cousin to a promotion agency for entertainers. The agency forged a birth certificate and flew her to Japan on 20 June 1995. There she was taken to a club by the representative of the promotion agency. The club owner took her passport, told her to put on a sexy outfit and assigned her to another entertainer who showed her how to serve drinks and entertain customers. She was made to go on private dates with customers and reported that she was often sexually harassed and forced to work long hours. 30. Reportedly in Victoria, Australia, the sex industry has a turnover of over US$ 360 million every year. In Japan the sex industry accounts for 1 per cent of the country’s gross national product and is equal to the defence budget. In Thailand, the income generated by the sex trade is even more striking. DOLE recently revised guidelines for the training, testing, certification and deployment of overseas performing artists (OPAs), transferring the responsibility for determining who may or may not work abroad as OPAs to the same people who recruit the applicants, with considerable profit to themselves. The Special Rapporteur believes that even though strong economic interests undermine the effectiveness of the Government’s protection efforts, it is essential that such efforts continue and be strengthened. 31. The Act provides OFWs the right to participate in the democratic decision-making process and to be represented in institutions involved in overseas employment. The 1987 Constitution requires Congress to establish a system allowing that Filipinos overseas can exercise their right to vote. However, for over 14 years, the Congress has failed to approve relevant legislation.