By Glenn Fawcett | Executive Director, Lotus Outreach
Most victims of rape and trafficking referred to Consoling Through Counseling are children.
The past 10 years has seen a huge percentage-wise increase in arrests and convictions in the cases of rape and sexual abuse.
The importance of the Consoling through counseling program is underscored by the fact a large proportion of victims of trafficking and sexual abuse cases referred to the CTC program over the past few years have been children.
Over the past 10 years we have also seen a major shift for the better in the attitude of police and judiciary resulting in huge percentage wise increases in arrests and convictions in cases of rape and sexual abuse. The legal program run by Lotus Outreach’s CTC partner, Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre, has played a very important part by pushing for reform and for action to reduce high pendency in cases of abuse against women and children.
Srey Tuich (name changed to protect her identity) now 15 years old, has recently completed a series of six court hearings culminating in conviction of the ringleader of a trafficking for begging ring in Bangkok. CTC program counselor Soknyi accompanied Tuich to each and every hearing, five times to the Thai border and for the final closing of the case in Bangkok.
Tuich is 4th in a family of seven siblings from the Cambodia province of Kompong Thom. Her biological father is in jail for raping his own daughter. Piling tragedy upon tragedy, her mother then separated and took another husband who beat the children regularly. Tuich has a hearing problem and physically seems to have the condition of dwarfism. Her mother, seeking to exploit her, contacted a person that managed a 10 children begging team in Bangkok and Tuich was taken to Thailand and left there to beg. She was not allowed to call mother, was beaten, tortured and forced to beg. She ran away one time and was caught so they tortured her after which she didn’t runaway again.
Thankfully, Thai Police finally arrested her and deported her to Cambodia and on September 7th, 2016 she entered the safe shelter and the CTC program. Police are still looking for the mother, as she was the instigator in trafficking of her daughter. Tuich continues to attend school while the program searches for an NGO to provide long term care for her.
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