Day 15: Banteay Srei – An interview with Sun Maly, Safe House Coordinator

Violence against women is prevalent in Cambodia where an estimated 20–25% of married women experience intimate partner violence. IWDA partner Banteay Srei provides reliable information about violence against women in Cambodia in the NGO Joint Statistics Report: Fifth Database Report on Sexual Trafficking, Sexual Exploitation and Rape in Cambodia 2010, released in August 2011.

Banteay Srei is one of 39 non-government organisations working with End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking in Cambodia (ECPAT-Cambodia) and other coalitions to produce the joint report, released in August 2011.

The Banteay Srei Safe House is the only emergency accommodation for women and girls in Battambang province. The Safe House serves as a vital centre for women experiencing gender-based violence, offering emergency accommodation and food, transportation, referrals for medical, legal and psychosocial services, orientation on basic rights, basic health education, as well as assistance in filing legal complaints, and accessing longer-term rehabilitation and reintegration services.

The report provides insights into the profile of victims and trends over time, which can be used for advocacy, and to inform policy and practice. The 2010 report documents a disturbing increase in the number of reported sexual trafficking and rape victims who are children and young women. Sun Maly, Safe House Coordinator for Banteay Srei, suggests that seven percent of the people seeking their support are young girls.

Child victims are more vulnerable than adults and Banteay Srei offers additional support for young girls including trained counsellors who work with families and lawyers.

The recommendations of the report include better provision of legal services for victims of sexual exploitation, and culturally appropriate rape prevention campaigns which stress the community’s obligation to protect all children from rape.

The report also recommends more income generating activities, training and educational programs for those most at risk of sexual trafficking and sexual exploitation, including single young women with limited education aged 16 – 25.

In this short film Sun Maly, Safe House Coordinator of Banteay Srei Safe House, talks to Kathy Oliver, IWDA Overseas Program Manager – Cambodia, about the services that the Safe House offers and Banteay Srei’s role in the NGO Joint Statistics Report.

End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking in Cambodia (ECPAT-Cambodia) is a network of 28 member organisations that work together to ensure that children everywhere in the country enjoy their fundamental rights and are free and secure from all kinds of sexual exploitation and abuse.

You can participate in ECPAT’s petition calling for action to stop sex trafficking of children and young people:

http://www.ecpat.net/TBS/HTML/MakeHistory.html
http://www.facebook.com/ecpat
http://twitter.com/#!/ecpat
http://www.banteaysrei.info

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The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. For each of the 16 Days from 25 November to 10 December 2011, the IWDA website will be featuring a different piece to highlight the work of our partners and explore ways that IWDA supporters can take part in the effort to end gender-based violence.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 9th, 2011 under 16_Days, Cambodia, Front page.