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Child Trafficking Survivors Learn Their Rights
By Chamnap Nay on 12 Jun 2007
Fifty-seven former trafficked girls in World Vision Cambodia’s Trauma Recovery Center celebrated their rights on International Children’s day last week at a restaurant along Mekong Riverside in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Although the Royal Government of Cambodia has been a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1992, many Cambodian children are not aware of these rights.
“When I was young, I was never told that I had rights. My parents forced me to sell flowers to tourists in Thailand from 8 p.m to 5 a.m. If I did not return home with money, they would beat me. They did not send me to school,” recounted a15-year-old , a victim of child trafficking.
“The main purpose to celebrate this event is to remind and inform all children that they have RIGHTS; rights to survive, be protected, to participate and be educated. If you can’t get these rights, you have to demand it,” said Mr. Nhim Sambat, Manager of the Trauma Recovery Project in his address on International Children’s Day.
World Vision has responded to the Convention on the Rights of the Childthrough education, protection, and advocacy against all forms of child exploitation and abuse.
“Many principles and guidelines have been developed to protect children. Core principles and a Code of Conduct ensure that World Vision staff treat beneficiaries, especially children, with dignity and respect,” says Mr. Moun Samnang, a World Vision Cambodia child protection officer.
“I think understanding my rights helps me to prevent myself from falling prey to tricks. If anybody wants to hurt me I'll inform my mother and the local authority to protect me,” said a 16-year-old child survivor of sexual abuse.
At the end of the program, all the girls were offered new clothes and joined in fun activities such as playing games, singing and dancing.
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