A cook in the city! At 14, the offer sounds like a dream, especially to a child who never has enough to eat and is burdened by the numerous cares in the village. However, instead of earning any money in the restaurant, Chanthorn was sold: first to an old man who sexually abused her and then to a brothel in Poi Pet. The two-year ordeal of the Cambodian girl came to an end when the police raided the brothel. Today she stays in the crisis center for women (CWCC) in the capital city of Phnom Penh and is undergoing training as a dressmaker.
Like Chanthorn, in recent years CWCC has helped several hundred girls to take their first steps in a life without daily violence. The organization offers the girls extensive help: in addition to a safe accommodation, they receive medical and also psychological care. For the first time in their lives many are offered the opportunity to learn to read or write or to learn a craft. The organization has even succeeded in restoring some of the victims of child trafficking to their families.

last update 01. 06. 2005