Healing for Victims of Assault and Trafficking

Between January and June of 2016, Lotus Outreach’s Consoling Through Counseling program hosted a total of 37 survivors and 13 relatives at the safe shelter in Banteay Meanchey. Out of the 37 survivors, 54% were survivors of human trafficking, 27% were sexual abuse survivors, and 19% were domestic violence survivors. In all cases, the survivors attended individual, small group, and large group counseling sessions.

The following is a case study of a resilient 15-year-old girl, Srey. Srey was born in Thailand and is the youngest in her family. Unfortunately, when Srey was 12, her father passed away. After the death of her father her mother still worked at a fertilizer production enterprise in Thailand. Srey attended school as well as helped her mother earn money where ever she could.

One day in 2015, Srey was sexually assaulted by two unknown men when her mother was away at work. The intruders threatened to kill her mother if she told anyone about the incident. Days later the men came back and assaulted her again while filming a video of the incident.

Srey’s school teacher noticed that Srey’s behavior was strange so she asked her if something was wrong. Srey told her teacher everything that had happened to her. Once the teacher let her mother know, her mother submitted a complaint to the Thai police. Srey was sent to an NGO’s safe shelter for care and waited for the court case to proceed. In August 2015 she was sent to Cambodia through Poipet Transit Center and finally she was referred to stay at CWCC’s safe shelter in Banteay Meanchey on the 13^th of August 2015.

Srey did not feel good about staying at the shelter for the first few days because she didn’t know the other clients who were residing in the shelter. She really missed her mother and siblings who were all still in Thailand. She wanted to go back to Thailand. She hid in her bedroom and did not want to talk to other clients.

The counselor started to build a relationship of trust and provided individual counseling and admitted her to join the group counseling sessions with other clients in the shelter. Srey attended group games and activities in the shelter such as drawing, painting, crafting, and playing with toys and other games. Srey started to speak more and more with the other survivors and share her story.

Today, Srey feels better about staying in the shelter with the other clients. She is stronger physically and emotionally. She gets along with the shelter staff and the other clients. She attends counseling and shelter activities. She is currently waiting for her mother to return to Cambodia. The counselor will continue to follow up on her progress.

Srey is grateful to all of the donors who have supported her recovery. Without your help, survivors would not have the chance to heal from their traumas.

Srey *is a name given by the writer. Her real name is hidden to protect her privacy in according to the child protection policy of CWCC.

A brief overview and update: 

• Underlings the importance of this work, 9 of 10 survivors of trafficking receiving counseling in the shelter were children.
• Of 24 survivors of trafficking, 17 were children and 2 under 22 years of age. Thankfully, most of the human trafficking cases are concerned with labor while two young adults (18-22) and one over 22, were survivors of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
• Unlike in previous years, most all of the sexual abuse cases have been to court and perpetrators are in custody.
• Four children and five youth over 18 years received sewing skills training for therapeutic and educational purposes.

All of the children survivors of trafficking came through the Cambodian/Thai border town of Poipet and the Thai repatriation center. Our partner NGO is also supporting one social worker at the government transit center to identify children and women victims of trafficking. Most of the children are dependents of undocumented migrants, flower sellers, and beggars.

The three cases of Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation had been sex workers. They are children were discovered during a Police raid in a Poipet massage parlor.

We feel that due to work like CTC, high rates of imprisonment and convictions have significantly reduced the sense of impunity in potential abusers. Fear of social media and increased sensitization and ‘humanization’ of those involved in implementing the law; border forces, police, judiciary and etc.

Below is a story of 9-year-old Vannit who was found begging on the streets of Thailand: 

We met Vannit at the confidential shelter for a few minutes when she was brought in to meet us. Looking at her you wouldn’t have any idea what she’s been has been through. Rather, she looks like any bright eyed and intelligent primary school kid which is a testament to the work done with her at the shelter and the bonding established with her counselor.

After Vannit’s parents got divorced her mother took her to Thailand to work. Her mother put her to work making and selling flowers on the street, which is often a front for begging. A child left alone on such streets is highly vulnerable to kidnapping and abuse. She was ‘arrested’ and taken off the street without locating her mother. She was sent by herself to a Thai shelter for 6 months. She was then sent to the transit center from where she was referred to the confidential shelter and entry to the CTC program in August 2015.

Vannet was immediately enrolled in 1^st grade, as she hadn’t been in school before. School took Vannet's mind off of missing her mother and gave her something productive to do. On her arrival to the shelter, she could only think of how much she missed her mother. We can only imagine what her mom thinks about her disappearance.  

Vannit told the Reintegration program officer that she lived in Mokul, somewhere near the border. The officer went searching for the grandmother but couldn’t find her. CTC has still not found her mother, but they continue to look. 

Vennit has attempted to escape and look for her mother but the counselor at the shelter advised Vennit that it’s very dangerous to leave the property unaccompanied. Vannit has finally settled down at the shelter and has started to interact with other children. She now enjoys to paint and draw with the other children. The councilor at the shelter keeps Vannit company and helps her with her homework. She now really enjoys her study and is showing signs of great intelligence.

We can only hope that one of these days her mom walks through the door.

Program officers tell us it’s a terrible reality that many trafficked children are separated from their parents in the same way and with no reference to their parents that have no idea if their children are alive, dead or worse.

Thank you to all that support this program! Vannit's hopeful that her mother will return, but until then she is in good hands. She will continue to be enrolled in school and making strides in her studies.