Healing for Victims of Assault and Trafficking

Sieb, 25, is recently divorced from her abusive husband. Sieb’s former husband has taken 2 of their 3 hectares of ancestral land and all their savings. He refuses to part with half, as is customary, or anything for that matter. They remain in a legal battle but with no land titles or documentation; it’s not clear what the outcome will be.

Back in November 2012, Sieb took refuge at Lotus Outreach’s shelter for survivors of rape, trafficking and domestic violence. While she stayed at the shelter for nearly six months, Sieb received sewing skills training and was offered a small business startup grant of $200 to help her get back on her feet.

Sieb’s first venture was reselling produce. She bought sweet cakes made in Thailand but didn’t account for the rainy season and perishable nature of the product and lost $40. Next, she bravely jumped into making dried fish but she cut off the fish heads which should have been included and which reduced the weight of the final product. She couldn’t make a profit and suffered a further loss of $100.

Sieb’s third venture is proving more successful and Lotus Outreach Field Director Glenn Fawcett recently visited Sieb at her home to find out more:

We arrived mid-afternoon to Sieb’s home in Oo Ambaal on the edge of Sisophon town in the Western Cambodian Province bordering Thailand. We could hear that familiar sound, “rat-a-rat-a-rat-a”, of a pedal driven sewing machine as we mounted the broad stairs of Sieb’s stilted wooden home with a corrugated iron roof. Inside, Sieb was working on her garments next to her parents and the usual gaggle of nephews, nieces and sundry neighborhood kids surrounded them.

After Sieb’s initial disappointments from her first two business ventures, it was clear that she would have to make absolutely certain that her next venture was a success. One day, as Sieb sat on her stoop watching life pass by her, she noticed a neighbor returning some garment piecework to a manager and told the neighbor that she could also do some of the sewing piecework for a lower price. The neighbor agreed and pretty soon Sieb was stitching shorts and shirts on piece rates. She’s not very fast as of yet, but it’s a start, and she works 6 hours on most days, which earns her about US$2 a day. This modest income makes a big difference to her and the family at the end of each month and with more practice she will doubtless get faster and generate more income.

Not surprisingly, Sieb says she isn’t going to stop at that. She tells us, “I’m putting money away to start a small grocery store, which I will find more stimulating. It will increase my skill and capacity by having to keep accounts, a budget, and stock in and out.”

Even after all she has endured, you can sense a strong confidence in Sieb, fifth of ten children, forced to leave school at sixth grade to look after her younger siblings, tend pigs, and manage other work while her parents labored wherever they could find work to keep food on the table for a family of 12.

Sieb’s story is by no means unique; many Cambodian women face a similar reality after an abusive relationship. Sieb is tremendously brave to strive to improve family’s circumstances after so much hardship. We are absolutely delighted she’s making the best use of the opportunity provided to her through the Counseling and Reintegration program in establishing an income and standing on her own two feet.

On behalf of the hundreds of women served by the Counseling and Reintegration program, we thank you for your support and generosity!

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In any country, not having a proper education creates a lot of added difficulties and risks for a person, and this holds especially true for women. It becomes more difficult to get a well-paying job, and in Cambodia it can even cause young girls to try to migrate to Thailand to find work.

Lotus Outreach designs its programs empower women economically and allow them to avoid risky behaviors like migrating to find work. Migrating puts young women at great risk of violent crimes, trafficking and rape.

For the many women who cannot avoid these perils, Lotus Outreach offers reconciliation through our Counseling and Reintegration program. Please consider donating— a week’s counseling can be provided for only $10.00!

Mulika is one such woman who has benefitted from counseling and economic reintegration services provided through this program. Her name has been changed to protect her identity.

Now 16 years old, Mulika dropped out of school at a young age due to her family’s extreme poverty. She travelled to Thailand by herself to find construction work, leaving her parents and her two siblings behind. She did manage to arrive and to find work in Thailand, but the danger for young Mulika was not over.

A Cambodian man who was Mulika’s coworker at the construction site forcibly raped her, beat her, and sliced her face with a broken bottle. She was seriously wounded and was hospitalized for her injuries.

Her wounds required multiple surgical treatments, and so Mulika was transferred back to a Cambodian hospital in Banteay Meanchey, near the Thailand border. The incident traumatized Mulika, and her family incurred significant costs in obtaining the medical treatments she needed. Her sense of self-worth plummeted, and things were made worse when her Cambodian fiancé decided to separate from her.

Fortunately, Lotus Outreach’s Counseling and Reintegration program was there to catch her as she fell. Mulika’s parents sought help from our local partner, the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center, and placed Mulika in the center’s residential care program.

Mulika began participating in group counseling sessions, learning to manage her depression and her anger. The anti-social behaviors which she exhibited when she joined the program lessened, and as she became more engaged in the therapy she was able to smile and make friends once again.

Counseling and Reintegration aims not just to help women reconcile their traumatic experiences, but also to prepare them for life and work beyond living in the crisis center. Mulika is attending literacy classes at the shelter, and she is learning the skills which her impoverished background had always denied her.

What’s more, the center has helped Mulika to file charges against her attacker, a Cambodian man who at the time of this report was still at large. Prosecuting their assailants gives some reconciliation to the survivor, and successful prosecutions help keep other women safe from dangerous rapists and abusers.

Mulika still has a long way to go, and dealing with the experience of a violent rape and traumatic migration is not easy. She is beginning to feel better, and she is grateful that Counseling and Reintegration is there to give hope, even to the hopeless.

Thank you for contributing to support these brave survivors!

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