Daughters of Cambodia Visitor Centre

Travel Location Phnom Penh

OVERVIEW

Daughters of Cambodia is a social enterprise empowering victims of trafficking to leave the sex industry through alternative employment. At the Daughters Visitor Centre, visitors can gain insight into the endemic of trafficking that is ravaging Cambodia while learning more about what Daughters is doing to stop it. Moreover, visitors can actually participate in our work by frequenting one of the three social enterprise businesses housed at the Visitor Centre — our fair-trade shop, cafe or women's spa — all of which provide former victims of trafficking with the vital income and skills to build thriving lives for themselves outside the horrors of the sex industry. To see the cafe's menu or a list of the spa's services, find the Daughters of Cambodia Visitor Centre on Facebook.If you have a large party, please call ahead of time to allow us to better accommodate you.

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What We Do?

Daughters of Cambodia exists to empower those trapped in the sex industry in Cambodia to walk free and start a new life, with healing, dignity, and the means to prosper.

We offer a wide range of rewarding jobs, with opportunities for promotion, in our attractive and innovative social enterprises.

We teach our clients how to sustain their new life-styles in non-institutional settings, and we provide recovery programs including social work, counseling, medical treatment and life-skills classes.

We are faith-based, followers of Jesus

Why We Do It?

What Motivates Us:
Jesus is Light and Hope for the world

Isaiah 61: 1-3 summarizes the ministry of Jesus Christ and says, "the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners....to comfort all who mourn...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

It is because of Jesus' life, love, and sacrifice that we are doing what we do.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women and men in Cambodia has escalated over the last decade into what is now an “industry”.
In Cambodia, there are several key factors that lead to a girl entering the sex industry, and once there, it is hard for her to leave:

Social stigma and lack of education reduce alternative job options
Children want to support their parents financially in order to pay back the debt of being born
Loss of hope is off-set by the belief that she will earn a better re-incarnation through sacrificing her life to support her family
Victims are unwilling to live in a shelter due to the loss of dignity/choice and the need to retain existing support networks and family relationships (collectivist-society).

Over time, many girls at Daughters are promoted and become leaders within our organization.
They are employed in roles including:
Business Managers, Head Chef, Quality Control Manager, Order & Dispatch Controller, Production Line Managers, Counsellors, and Receptionists.

Choice and Dignity

Our clients come to us voluntarily because they are looking for life-change. We are not a shelter and our approach is non-institutionalization. Clients choose where they wish to live, and most choose to remain in the community, where they can maintain relationships with their families and friends.

Instead of creating dependence, we empower our clients, building their internal capacity and providing the external resources they need to change their own lives within their cultural and social contexts. We seek to create changes that are internal, voluntary and sustainable — not imposed. Long-term success is achieved when a client remains out of the sex industry for the rest of her life, supporting herself through dignified, rewarding work and achieving psychological and social health.

Who We Are?

We have a dedicated, talented and incredible team of Cambodian staff who are assisted by a small number of skilled foreign volunteers, all of whom are passionate about our cause.
Our staff work in these departments: social services, medical clinic, production businesses, design, retail & service industries, administration, PR/communications and finance.

Recovery Program

COUNSELING AND SOCIAL WORK
Our social work team helps our clients to increase psychological health, and improve domestic and social functioning. We provide counselling services to reduce trauma and psychological distress and support clients in problem solving. Social work services include domestic violence counselling, re-housing, referrals to legal service providers and measures to protect children in the local community. We target reducing abuse and risk factors, including: child abuse, domestic violence, risk of re-trafficking, dysfunctional behaviours, addictions, dangers and threats to our clients and their children.

MEDICAL TREATMENT
Our medical program supports our clients on the road to physical recovery, in order to bring about changes in health outcomes. At Daughters' medical clinic, we treat basic conditions and importantly we provide health prevention education. We also make referrals to external partners for specialist medical treatment.

CREATIVE PROGRAMS
Creativity is a crucial part of recovery, and we conduct Art Therapy sessions and art classes, along with other creative programs, for girls to express and explore their emotions or to just enjoy using their creativity and imagination.
Art Therapy courses are conducted in groups, over several weeks, with a theme and times for reflection and sharing.
Creative programs include the following: music, dance, art, photography courses, and design classes.

DAYCARE
We provide free day-care for our clients' pre-school children. The children of our clients are often left at home alone or unsupervised in the community. The risk factors are very high for sexual and physical abuse, and/or neglect which often causes a repeat of the cycle their mothers have experienced. Our daycare gives a safe, structured environment with stimulating and creative activities. In addition, we provide parenting classes to all mothers on a weekly basis.

These are important services to safeguard children, and to break the cycle of abuse and trafficking.

EDUCATION
Health Education and Life-skills Workshops are fundamental in the process of equipping clients with skills to make healthy choices for their own health and welfare, and that of their children. Our workshops build clients' inner capacity to raise their standard of domestic, and psychological functioning,, and reduce the risk factors for re-trafficking, abusive relationships and negative life-choices.

ON SITE CHURCH
We operate a church for clients who are interested in becoming Christians. Attendance is voluntary, no clients are coerced into attendance. We run weekly discipleship groups for those who wish to go deeper into relationship with Jesus, and our staff pray together several times a week for our clients. We also offer our clients prayer sessions for healing of emotions once a week. Those who wish to become Christians are also encouraged to join local Cambodian churches in their community.

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