A number of Chab Dai aftercare organizations
in Cambodia expressed their desire to understand more about the long-term
impacts of their programs on victims/survivors of sexual exploitation and
trafficking. At this time, no one organization had the capacity to conduct long-term follow
up on their clients leaving their programs. Hence, the idea of a cooperative effort began
to grow. The Butterfly Project is the first longitudinal re-integration
research study that seeks to follow a group of sexually
exploited/trafficked youth and adults over a ten year period. We started in
2010 and we are now in year five of our journey.
The
core objectives of the Butterfly research are two-fold. The first objective is to hear the ‘voice’ of
victims/survivors who have (re-) integrated out of aftercare and community
programs, and through their ‘voice’ they can inform the practitioner community in Cambodia.
The second objective is to disseminate our findings and lessons learned amongst
mixed audiences of other practitioners, policy makers and academics within the
wider region and global community.
The
Butterfly project is like any other study in that participation is
voluntary. A participant has the right to drop out at any time. Yet, when the
point of the study is to follow a group of the same people over a period of time, then attrition or dropping out
is an issue. We anticipated this challenge from the beginning and, at five years, we are still in contact with the majority of our 128 participants. Aside
from working hard to maintain the database on our participants’ most current
whereabouts, we believe the primary reason they voluntarily remain in our study
is because they trust us (the research team).
Essentially, every participant in our study has experienced some degree of sexual trauma, and
a number of studies suggest that severe trauma exposure results in and is
associated with negative impacts on memory. We sense this may be true for some
of our participants, as year to year their answers vary and even contradict what
they have said previously. We also find participants’ varying emotional states,
their family dynamics, their relationships and their financial securities are
all matters which affect how they respond at any given interview. Many of our
older participants are in violent and abusive relationships whilst younger
participants often describe difficulties with their peers. Others work in
dangerous work contexts, and most are struggling to meet their economic needs.
Most
of our participants live with feeling stigmatized for their past experiences of
sexual exploitation and so most live with many secrets. We have found that as
each year progresses, increasing numbers of participants are telling us they trust
us enough to disclose more of their stories. They express how therapeutic it
feels to share their feelings and experiences with our team.
Many
have also told us they continue in the study because they feel valued as
individuals and not just subjects in a research project. They state that they feel
respected, appreciated and honored because we ask them about their lives and
their opinions. In addition, a number of them have stated that they appreciate the
opportunity to express their ‘voice’ because they hope their insights and
experiences will help others in similar circumstance.
Our
team feels each participant is unique. We are thankful they trust us enough and
are willing to express their ‘voice.’ It
is such a privilege to journey along with them, and we hope through their
stories they feel empowered and that their voice will empower future generations.
If you would like any of
our annual reports and themed papers please visit the Chab Dai website
Siobhan Miles, Butterfly
manager
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