By Jane Tafel | Executive Director, Hagar USA
The needs of girls from backgrounds of trafficking or other forms of sexual abuse are growing in Cambodia. Hagar’s Aftercare program served a total of 95 girls in 2009, compared to 87 last year. When a trafficking victim comes to Hagar, we always hope that she can be reunited with a loving family. In 2009, this was the case for 23 girls. However, when a child’s family can’t be found or was complicit in the abuse, she can never be reintegrated. Hagar then provides loving, long-term care in a Family Aftercare Home. In 2009, this involved 43 girls in both Phnom Penh and Kampong Thom.
In order to help these girls recover from their horrific abuse, we are now providing a new form of counseling. Recently, eight Hagar counselors were trained to provide Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Although common in the west, it is new to Cambodia. A partnership across Johns Hopkins University, World Vision, and Hagar has made this possible.
Says Sue Taylor, Hagar Cambodia Psychosocial Manager, “Each girl will be more able to take on whatever life throws at her, with strength and resilience and dignity. I am proud of our counseling staff and their commitment to excellence.”
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