A High Security Home is a safe haven in Cambodia for girls aged 5 - 16 years who have been trafficked or exploited.
Girls in our Care
At our SHE Rescue Home and through our projects, we receive girls from the following backgrounds.
Rescued
Girls that have been rescued by other anti-trafficking organisations within Cambodia that have been or are at risk of sexual exploitation.
Trafficked
Girls, where their families have tried to sell their daughters for financial gain or been tricked with lies about better opportunities for their daughters future. We have also seen increased cases of child brides being sold to China from Cambodia.
Raped
Girls who have been raped (there has been a noticeable increase in the rape of young children, particularly 6-12 year olds who are many times raped by boys who are minors themselves).
Prostitution
Girls in prostitution, who have been deceived about the work they would be doing and are working against their own will being managed by a pimp or trafficker, potentially enduring harsh control mechanisms such as abuse or violence.
Prevention
In recent years, prevention and education in poor rural areas has been a priority in other organizations working within Cambodia.
Our home
Our loving and nurturing home for these young survivors of sexual exploitation is staffed by local Cambodian woman, most of them mothers themselves that provide support so these girls can start their healing journey in a place of security.
Schools in Cambodia only run classes for half a day. At our home, we have a school class room where extra education is provided to supplement what they are learning at their private school. As well as continuing Khmer literacy we provide English and computer lessons for all of the girls. For extra curricular and leisure activities we have music, dance, art and access to sewing machines.
Each girl has a social worker and counsellor. Counselling is an important part of each girls healing in breaking the shame associated with her abuse and providing healthy coping skills for the trauma she experienced. Her social workers role is primarily to work towards safe reintegration options. Supervised family visits are an integral part of a girls emotional well being and regular phone calls home.
There is a large front yard where the girls love to ride their bikes, play games and hold many loud and hilarious games of volleyball. At the rear of the property is a large covered dining area where the girls help the House Mothers prepare meals and enjoy the community of eating together, which is an important part of Khmer culture.
How We Help
1
Education
Education in Cambodia looks very different from what we know of education in Australia and the USA. For a family living in poverty education is secondary to children earning and income and getting food on the table. Many children leave school or never attend as they are working on family farms/business or looking after younger siblings so that the parents can work. Over the years we have seen many 15 year old girls come into the home that can not read and write at a grade 1 level. A high percentage of girls in Cambodia never go beyond grade 6 as that is considered a sufficient education for a girl. We currently have 2 girls that are about to graduate High School and one of the girls will graduation from Law School in 2022. Our goal is to see many more girls in our program reach this level of education!
2
Vocational
For a girl that is 15 years old and never attended school regularly to catch up on her education is almost impossible and she is often embarrassed to be in a class with children much younger than herself. We have many organisations in Cambodia that we partner with who offering alternative learning opportunities and vocational training programs that include literacy and numeracy.
3
Therapeutic
Each girl within the SHE Rescue Home has regular contact with a counsellor and social worker. These are essential relationships for the girls in their healing and restoration journeys. The counselling room is a safe place for girls to talk about their deepest fears and darkest secrets. It was in this environment that we had a 6 year old who had been raped confided in her counsellor that she didn’t want to be a sex worker. This is the kind of culture shame a young girl as local traditions and sayings reveal that once a girls is ‘ruined’ she is ruined for every no matter the circumstances. Phone counselling is available to a girl when she is reintegrated.
4
Family Support
Whenever possible, our social workers work closely with families to help equip them to be able to receive their daughter back into their care. A large part of is work is finding ways to elevating the property that often lead to a girl being exploited. Family support has also involved us building and repairing houses, helping communities access clean water, gifting pigs and chickens to families, and educating communities. Once of the biggest concerns that girls identified with us was going home to a place with no bathroom. They had real fears of having to wonder to a remote place in a forest or field to relieve themselves and being attacked while they were alone. Building a bathroom in their home provides way more that just good hygiene - it provides safety and peace of mind for a girl who has already experienced the trauma of a sexual attack. The aim of our work is to always be able to reintegrate a girl into a safe, supportive, and stable family and community.
5
Medical
All girls in our SHE Home receive regular medical care, including vaccinations, dental, optical, and any other necessary care. For many girls that are living with a sexually transmitted disease treatment and emotional support is provided in the short and long term. In 2011, a life-saving operation was given to one of our girls who had a heart condition in which she wasn’t receiving enough oxygen to her heart. The condition was crippling and prevented her from engaging in the everyday life of a 12 year old. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, we were able to fly her to Singapore to receive major heart surgery. She is now a bright, happy, growing and energetic young girl who proudly shows off her scar to all she meets.
Reintegration
Our goal for every survivor is successful reintegration back with their family and into local communities. While there are always exceptions, girls are usually in our home between 6 months and 2 years while court cases are completed, families become financially stable and the girls take the time to heal from their traumas. When a girl is ready to reintegrate we organise a big party to celebrate all she has become.
Once a girl has been reintegrated, we continue to support her financially and emotionally through a minimum transition period of three years. Our social worker continues to visit with her and assesses the family situation and the girl’s safety. We assist the family by continuing to pay for her education, which decreases the chances of her being re-trafficked and empowers her for her future. Each girl gets sent home with a bicycle and mobile phone, so that she can ride to her local school and has a way of keeping in contact with her social worker about any concerns. We also help families in great need with rice and food on family visits where needed.
After a girl has been home for 3 years we will assess her case – if she is safe and stable and on her way to a successful future we will close the case and allow her to thrive on her own! If she is not safe and stable we will continue support and reassess every 6 months. Families in our HER Initiative are able to continue employment even once a girls case is closed. Every closed case is a girl whose future has been restored. This is why we do what we do!
