In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand In Gear - Issue 3 | Page 58
How can we help?
During the trip, David was joined by Tith Lim,
Cambodia’s United Nation’s Anti-Child Trafficking
co-ordinator, on a visit to the deputy head of Phnom
Penh’s anti-trafficking police squad, Captain Keo
Thea. The Kiwi Rotarian found an office adorned with
commendations and awards from the likes of the FBI
and Department of Homeland Security.
He and Tith also had a
meeting at the Ministry of the
Interior, and were joined by
an audience of Cambodian
government officials involved
in the police anti-trafficking
squads.
Georgia says the day before the event, the
Rotarians were invited to a Hagar-hosted
dinner, and heard how many of those the
organisation had rescued from sex slavery
David Black with Captain Keo Thea
and other forms of exploitation were now
thriving, and either studying or training.
The major issue that arose was around the horrific
revictimising of those who have been abused.
“To the extent, if the perpetrator’s off to court, they and
the victim will often travel in the same vehicle. Over
there, in a lot of cases, the victim is seen as the bad one.
“There is no barrier to protect them from the offender
in the court, and there isn’t even anything to stop the
victim being intimidated into dropping the charges,
which may come as a result of the offender’s family
going to the victim’s home.
“We have the likes of Rape Crisis
and Victim Support in New
Zealand – we have
In one of the most inspirational experiences, the Project
Starfish contingent competed in the annual Angkor Wat
International Half Marathon, encompassing
a 10km event, in Sam Riep, Cambodia. They
were part of a team organised by Hagar
International’s Phnom Penh office, which
included survivors of various forms of abuse
and exploitation.
“The Hagar clients found the experience
immensely helpful – being part of such
a large event, and having so many
supporters,” David says. “Another part of
the healing and rehabilitation process.”
“I’m thinking: ‘This is pretty
cool’,” David says.
“I explained to them – through
Tith’s translation – that we
have a global network of over
1.2 million Rotarians, and we
also have close ties to the likes
of the United Nations ... what
can we do to help you guys?”
those sort of frameworks in place here, where we could
help Cambodia replicate that, and, I’m sure, within
our global Rotary network, we’ve got enough people
who have legal skills and backgrounds who would be
prepared, on a pro bono basis, to help them set up a
better structure.”
“One of the girls shared her story, and it was pretty
emotional for her to stand up in front of a group of
international people and tell her story, and just how
thankful she was to Hagar.
“One of the things that really stood out to me was how
she felt that, from talking to us young people, she felt
normal again.
“And, they get called ‘victims’. We can forget they are
normal people who have been exploited, and that they
need long-term support and counselling. Quite often,
yes, they are out of the situation, but people tend to
forget how easy it is for them to fall back into
those situations.
“They’re just so vulnerable … some of
them don’t know any different. For
some, prostitution has always
just been a way of life,
and a way of income. If
they’re suddenly stuck
for money again, and
they can’t get the training
or jobs straight away, they
know that’s a source of
income, so they’ll go back
to that.”
As well as the
humanitarian support
the trip provided and the
invaluable fact-finding
undertaken, the publicity
Page 58 | In Gear - Rotary in southern New Zealand - District 9980 | www.rotarydistrict9980.org