Cambodian sex trafficking survivors speak to DU students
DENVER - As young teenagers they were forced into prostitution in Cambodia. Now thousands of miles away, Srey Neth and Chang Liya shared their stories of survival with a group of students at the University of Denver.
It's "really painful, and when I remember, it make me cry, and my heart, it jump really fast," said Srey Neth.
She says when she was just 14 years old her mother sold her to a brothel for $300. She was kept in horrible conditions, beaten and starved, and forced to take 10 to 20 customers a day.
Chang Liya also entered the world of sex trafficking as a teenager. She says she was drugged and woke up in the possession of traffickers who burned her, beat her and forced her into prostitution.
"Very painful for me," she said.
Both girls were rescued and ended up at Transitions Global, a live-in program started by American James Pond.
The program offers counseling, education and job skills that help the girls start fresh. "After girls are rescued they've got to find a place to heal," Pond said.
Both young women are now yoga instructors in Cambodia, but they are traveling the world.
They are on a mission to raise awareness about the problem of human trafficking in their city and ours. "It does happen everywhere," Pond said.
If you want information about ways you can help visit http://.www.Transitionsglobal.org http://www.coloradocrimevictims.org/human_trafficking.htm or email htc@du.org.
DENVER - As young teenagers they were forced into prostitution in Cambodia. Now thousands of miles away, Srey Neth and Chang Liya shared their stories of survival with a group of students at the University of Denver.
It's "really painful, and when I remember, it make me cry, and my heart, it jump really fast," said Srey Neth.
She says when she was just 14 years old her mother sold her to a brothel for $300. She was kept in horrible conditions, beaten and starved, and forced to take 10 to 20 customers a day.
Chang Liya also entered the world of sex trafficking as a teenager. She says she was drugged and woke up in the possession of traffickers who burned her, beat her and forced her into prostitution.
"Very painful for me," she said.
Both girls were rescued and ended up at Transitions Global, a live-in program started by American James Pond.
The program offers counseling, education and job skills that help the girls start fresh. "After girls are rescued they've got to find a place to heal," Pond said.
Both young women are now yoga instructors in Cambodia, but they are traveling the world.
They are on a mission to raise awareness about the problem of human trafficking in their city and ours. "It does happen everywhere," Pond said.
If you want information about ways you can help visit http://.www.Transitionsglobal.org http://www.coloradocrimevictims.org/human_trafficking.htm or email htc@du.org.
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