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Cambodia: A Child in a Brothel Kalliyan on Her Life as a Victim of the Illegal Sex Industry — and Her Recovery November 2006 By Katie Chalk, World Vision Communications, Asia Pacific Region
Maybe that partially explains why it was possible for traffickers to lure her away from her home into the sex trade of Phnom Penh. The End of Innocence When she was 13, Kalliyan was promised a good job in Phnom Penh — well-paid and safe. With few opportunities for a young girl from a poor family in Battambong, both she and her family wanted to believe what they were told. But Kalliyan was sold into a brothel where girls like her and even younger were offered to foreign visitors drawn to Cambodia’s illegal child sex industry. The brothel also attracted local men who sought teens and pre-teens, often under the mistaken belief the young girls would therefore be free of sexually transmitted diseases. Up to 20 clients a day forced themselves upon Kalliyan. One of them left her HIV-positive. Kalliyan was rescued during a police raid and brought to a recovery center operated by World Vision. She says she was filled with happiness the moment she arrived. “I was so surprised that I didn’t need to do anything I didn’t want [to do]. I was free to study and make friends.” Finally Feeling Safe When asked what she likes best about living at the center, Kalliyan doesn’t hesitate. “Being happy,” she says. “Being safe.” Kalliyan spends each morning learning traditional weaving, and afternoons in classes learning to read and write. After 4 p.m., her time is her own, and she usually joins three other girls, her closest friends. Talking and laughing, they knit friendship bands together, or make simple floor mats they can sell to set aside a little spending money. They never talk about what happened to them. It took some time for Kalliyan to open up even to the staff, attending two counseling sessions each week where she cried or sat in silence. In an attempt to reach her through art therapy, the staff encouraged her to draw, but she refused. Sorn Navy, a counselor at the recovery center, began to work closely with Kalliyan, gradually overcoming her reluctance to tell her story. “Afterwards,” says Kalliyan, “I felt fresh and clear.” And for Sorn Navy, it was now possible to help Kalliyan deal with the psychological trauma of her experiences. What's Ahead for Kalliyan? With only a month to go until her year at the center is up, Kalliyan has started to think about what she will do next. She likes weaving, and has progressed from simple cotton scarves to more complicated traditional designs in Cambodian silk. She thinks that with a loom she will be able to support herself as a weaver, and also hopes to learn some tailoring skills so she can make clothes from the fabric she weaves. She wants to return to her family, although she will miss her friends and her “mothers” — the house-parents, medical staff and counselors at the center. She is neither excited nor nervous about leaving, she says, and she is nearly ready. Her practical plans show a streak of independence that implies she has learned some confidence in her time at the center. But security is high on her list of priorities. “I would set up my loom next to my family’s house, where they can see me and I can see them. I could be safe there, weaving all day long.” Learn More
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