One in 40 Cambodian girls will be sold into sex slavery.
90% are sold by their own families.
Broke by repeated rape and abuse, these girls are trapped by shame and financial burden.
It’s an epidemic bred by extreme financial need and a thriving sex industry.
Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.
According to an official with Unicef, there were 1.2 million known cases of child trafficking that takes place each year, and that for every 800 victims of human trafficking, one person is convicted for the crimes.
This is the information I read from an organisation that is supporting victims of human trafficking. It’s hard to let these facts sink in. It’s not right and it’s definitely not fair that this is happening.
During my time in both Thailand and Cambodia I heard over and over again about the problem of human trafficking but I also seen individuals react to support and make change. In Thailand, I worked with a church that went into the bars and red-light districts and befriended girls trapped in this sort of lifestyle. They ministered to the broken and showed love and compassion in a place that women were used. In Cambodia, we visited an organisation called Daughters of Cambodia. They reach out to sex workers in Phnom Penh offering a chance to get out. This is done through employment, counselling, free medical care and the freedom to make their own choices.
I have witnessed the problem and I have witnessed people taking action. This is something I am so passionate about. I believe we should all experience true freedom but not only experience it, live in it in a daily basis. We all have dreams and aspirations, no one should have the power to stop us from living that out.
Mhairi x
