GUEST VIEWPOINT: Stopping exploitation starts by helping one girl

By Bhavia Wagner

Published: October 3, 2012 

registerguard.com

 

Sex trafficking is more lucrative than drug trafficking, according to law enforcement agencies, and recently has been identified as a serious problem on the Interstate 5 corridor.

And it is just the tip of the iceberg of violence against women worldwide. Friendship With Cambodia, a nonprofit organization based in Eugene, has been addressing this issue for the past nine years.

In Cambodia, one in 10 girls is deceived and sold to a brothel, where she typically is raped, beaten until her spirit is broken and then treated like a slave. Impoverished families in rural areas are told that their daughters will get jobs in the city at garment factories or as housekeepers, and the parents accept the first month’s wages from the “recruiter,” not knowing the girls will be sold to a brothel.

Award-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, decided to bring awareness to the problem of violence against women in developing countries. And they offer solutions. Their best-­selling book, “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity Worldwide,” recently was used to create a four-hour documentary on PBS. Topics included are sex trafficking in Cambodia, forced prostitution in India, maternal mortality and genital mutilation in Somaliland, and gender violence and rape in Sierra Leone.

The statistics are staggering:

One in five women worldwide will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.

In the United States, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds.

Many countries do not have laws against domestic violence.

Children entering the sex trade are usually 13 years old.

Today, between 300,000 and 1.2 million children are being held as sex slaves.

One woman dies every two minutes from pregnancy-related causes, leaving 1 million children motherless each year.

Poverty is cited as one of the underlying causes of violence against women. The World Bank has stated that investing in education for girls is the best way to end poverty. Approximately 30 families from Lane County are sponsoring vulnerable teenage girls in Cambodia so they can stay in school through Friendship With Cambodia.

In the United States we take education for granted, but in Cambodia it is a luxury that most families cannot afford. Seventy-five percent of the students drop out of grade school, and only 6 percent finish high school.

Many of the girls supported by Friendship With Cambodia live in thatch huts, and some eat only one meal a day. These girls were selected for sponsorship because they are very poor, and they are serious about their studies.

Most of the girls graduate from high school and go on to get a university degree. We are proud of them. Our recent graduates are now improving life for others in the remote communities they came from, working as teachers, a nurse midwife and social workers.

Another solution to violence against women is economic empowerment through vocational skill training such as sewing, or through credit programs to start an income-generation project such as raising pigs. Last year, Friendship With Cambodia helped approximately 2,500 poor women to raise their standard of living by teaching them to set goals and save money.

We motivated them by paying interest on their savings. Supporting social workers who meet with the women on a regular basis is key to the success of the program.

Holt International Children’s Services is another Eugene-based nonprofit group that helps at-risk girls by stabilizing their families. The agency provides income-generating opportunities for mothers.

Statistics show that women reinvest 90 percent of their income in ways that benefit their children. Mothers want their girls to go to school, but they cannot afford school uniforms, a bicycle or the teachers’ fees.

Friendship with Cambodia is showing a 40-minute summary of the PBS documentary “Half the Sky” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the First Christian Church, 1166 Oak St. An optional donation of $5 to $10 will go to help girls in Cambodia. There will be a discussion following the film with other local nonprofit organization helping girls and women, including Holt International Children’s Services, Thembanthi and Soroptimist International.

Meg Ryan is one of the six celebrities appearing in the film, along with America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde. Ryan points out that it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems, and some people don’t think changing only one life is enough.

But if you are the girl who was rescued, it would matter to you.

Bhavia Wagner is the executive director of Friendship with Cambodia (online at www.friendshipwithcambodia.org). She is the author of “Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia.”