topAbout the Country
Cambodia is a nation inundated with sexual abuse and exploitation; it serves as the origin, transit and destination for many victims of people trafficking. Factors such as widespread poverty, high unemployment, poor literacy, and lack of employment make the sale of women and children a serious consideration for many families. Whilst the Government and NGO’s have addressed the issue of people trafficking, their efforts have mainly focused on large cities or towns in Cambodia.
People trafficking in Cambodia is increasing, responding to it powerfully requires action from Cambodian Government and society, law enforcement officials, NGO’s, the wider public and the church.
Research shows that rural villages are commonly becoming targets for both paedophiles and traffickers, they prey on the vulnerable, poor and uneducated families with little awareness and understanding of trafficking. These villages are often isolated and have no infrastructure for help or support therefore need educating on the dangers that face them and how to combat these efficiently.
Case study
After her mothers death Serey’s brother and sister left home to find work, leaving Serey in the care of her father. Yet it was not care that she received, by age 13 she had been raped, first by her cousin and then her father. She shortly moved in with her Aunt, yet upon learning of her niece’s trauma, she turned her out of doors believing she was tainted.
The young girl boarded a bus and asked the driver to take her to a province in South Cambodia where her sister and brother were working. Instead, he took her to a brothel where he sold her – Serey was then only 14 years old.
The brothel owners treated her appallingly; she was frequently beaten and given electric shocks. When Serey refused sex with a man they would inject her with drugs, making her incoherent and compliant, she would often bleed as a result of seeing up to 10 men a day and fall unconscious because of the drugs.
A man visiting the brothel appeared to offer the abused child some a way out, he told her he wished to marry her, and helped her to leave the brothel in Cambodia. Instead of marrying her as promised, he sold her to a businessman in Thailand, where she was kept alone in a house and used for sex.
One day she asked to go to the market, not allowed to go alone she was chaperoned by a boy. During the course of the day, she told the boy she felt unwell and went to the toilets, she ran away. This was how Serey finally escaped from the slavery.
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Explanation of the Project
Chab Dai has developed an innovative project in rural areas of Cambodia to increase awareness and education of sexual abuse and trafficking, through a training program for churches.
The project will help churches and communities take responsibility for protecting children in their villages, for pastors to demonstrate greater levels of care for the children and for the churches to develop and maintain child protection policies. The community will be educated on the characteristics and strategies of a trafficker and on the Anti-Trafficking law put in place by the Cambodian Government. The project will also educate on safe migration.
During a pilot scheme in 2005 it was found that many of the pastors were unaware of the issues of people trafficking and how to tackle them, through this naivety some had even facilitated children being trafficked. The pastors were then educated and helped with current cases in their communities.
The pastors now have a renewed passion for protecting the vulnerable in their communities. They have confronted traffickers, followed up cases with our assistance and spoken out about the problem. This has had such an impact at community level that the Village and Commune Chiefs will begin attending training.
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History of the Project
Rural villages and communities are very vulnerable to traffickers and paedophiles as they are unaware of the risks that face them and do not have the resources to deal with such threats. Often close to the borders of Thailand and Vietnam, the villages have poor access with no nearby towns and poor roads.
Chab Dai recognised the problems in these villages and as a result developed a innovative training scheme in Cambodia. Closely working with church and community leaders the scheme addresses issues relating to sexual abuse, trafficking and child protection.
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About the organisation
Chab Dai is a coalition of “Christian Organisations Committed to Ending Sexual Abuse and Trafficking”.
Chab Dai exist to help and enable families and victims of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking be all that God created them to be; they have a strong commitment to ending sexual abuse and trafficking.
Chab Dai is committed to advocacy and preventative initiatives, to reach vulnerable women, children and their communities in order that they have a greater awareness of trafficking and abuse, giving them access to appropriate support structures. They are also focused on intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration; providing assistance and care to women and children who have been abused, exploited or trafficked.
The coalition has a commitment to assisting other organizations improve their technical skills, programme support, organisational development, networking and staff support. There is a strong focus on helping all churches and programmes working towards child protection.