A Taiwanese group dedicated to fighting human trafficking and sexual abuse has established a women’s shelter in Cambodia, a country known for the commercialization of sex exploitation, one of the organization’s executives said at the launch ceremony yesterday.
The Pleroma Home for Girls in Phnom Penh will serve as both a shelter and school for girls under 18 and sex trafficking victims, offering counseling and career training, said Lily Lee (李吳淑), the project manager and a board member of the Taipei-based Garden of Hope Foundation’s branch in New York.
Citing a study done in 2007, Lee said an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 women — 80 percent of whom are under 18 — are involved in the sex trafficking trade in Cambodia, a problem that requires urgent attention.
Photo: Hsieh Wen-hua, Taipei Times
“Most girls are involved in the sex business because of poverty, and statistics show that 31 percent of them are illiterate,” the project manager said, highlighting education as an important means to finding a solution.
“The situation in Cambodia is like that in Taiwan 20 years ago when women’s rights were trampled on and overlooked,” foundation chief executive officer Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said.
The foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims of the sex industry, sexual abuse and domestic violence, has accumulated a wealth of experience in helping female victims in the 23 years it has operated, Chi said, and was willing to use this knowledge to help the women of Cambodia.
Pleroma Home, run by staff members trained by the foundation, is expected to take in between 10 and 15 girls in the near future.
The long-term objective is to work to establish a local girls’ school, Lee said.
Though Cambodia has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the government is working closely with local NGOs to promote international exchanges, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is funding the shelter project.
A representative of the American Institute in Taiwan who was present at the ceremony applauded the foundation’s efforts in battling sexual exploitation and called for everyone to take a stand against it.
The US-based Chinese Christian Herald Crusades and Fullness in Christ Fellowship in the US are also participating in the project.
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