The Impact of an Enforced Disappearance on a Household’s Financial Vulnerability in the Philippines

The purpose of this study is to describe the impact of enforced disappearance on a household's financial vulnerability, with a particular focus on the Philippines. A qualitative approach was adopted for this study; semi-structured interviews were conducted using triangulation among a sample group of five family members of disappeared persons and three experts working on the issue. Guided by the Household Vulnerability Framework of Leika and Marchettini (2017), it was found that a disappearance increases household financial vulnerability and particularly impacts the households in terms of their liquid assets, income, and living costs. However, the severity of the consequences varies per household and its context. The unique characteristics of every individual disappearance highly influence the type and amount of impact. In addition, the search for the disappeared, loss of opportunity, and the physiological impact on household members had negative financial consequences on a household. In many ways, victims are forced to re-prioritise time and spending. Keywords: enforced disappearance, financial vulnerability, human rights, Philippines