Proud to Be a Girl: Empowering Girls in Cambodia

Sophea grew up out the back of a
market. Her life was not easy. One day, her
father took her to the market and handed her
to a woman he knew.
“My father just looked at me, allowing her
to take me, without saying a word.”
Sophea was pushed into a car and driven far
away to a home where she was kept in slavery,
required to work hard and severely abused.
She was only four years old.
Sophea told us through tears:
“I just wanted to be like a normal child,
going to school with loving parents.”
Everyone was violent towards her – even the
children. She tried to run away many times
but each time the family would catch her and
become more violent towards her.
One day, Sophea took one of the children’s
bicycles and pedalled as fast as she could
for as long as she could. Eventually, she was
stopped by some people who said she was
too young to be riding alone in the dark.
They took her to the village chief, who
referred her to Hagar.
“When I first came to Hagar, I was so
happy. Happy to escape a life of violence
and running away. Happy that I had found
a safe place. I found parents who loved me
and gave me a chance to go to school.
I finally got what I always wanted.”

Of course, that was just the beginning of
Sophea’s long journey to healing. Now a young
woman, with Hagar’s support Sophea has
graduated from university with a Bachelor
of Social Work and works for an organisation
that empowers Cambodian girls through
education.
“Through the years, my passion to help girls
like me has become stronger,” she says.
In 2017, Sophea boarded a plane for the very
first time to come to Australia. Here, she gave
powerful evidence to a Parliamentary Inquiry
into whether Australia should introduce a
Modern Slavery Act.
Today, the Modern Slavery Act is law in
Australia. It requires large companies to
publicly report each year on the steps they
are taking to guard against slavery in their
supply chains.
Many individuals and organisations
contributed to achieving this great outcome.
Yet, it was so crucial for our lawmakers to
hear directly from someone who had actually
experienced slavery and Hagar is so proud of
the role Sophea played.

Thank you
“I want to thank every one of you…
If not for people like you who help
girls like me, I wouldn’t be here today…
Thank you for walking with
me in this journey.”
Sophea