New tools on the Freedom Registry

We launched a new version of the Freedom Registry! The major addition in this release is an interactive data visualization map of the movement's services. We can now dynamically visualize and filter the specifics of how organizations have registered the types of services they offer. This enables the movement to see who is doing what on a regional basis, and — just as importantly — where there are gaps in services. Potential volunteers can use it to see which nearby organizations have listed themselves as requesting help. We think this new tool goes a long way in cultivating new and powerful layers of connectivity into the movement.

Continuing in this narrative, we are building a means for anyone — organization or individual — to build new tools for the movement on top of our existing data structure. In tech-speak it is called an application programming interface (API). It enables third-parties to connect to our application and build their own new tools for the vetted organizations that make up our user base. We're very excited about the possibilities that are opened up with this type of freely accessible data ecosystem! Our hope for all of this is to facilitate organic coordination and relationships between counter trafficking organizations, agencies and institutions.

Currently, the Registry is only released to the United States, but over the past year we have been in the process of working with national steering committees in a myriad of countries to tailor the Registry to regional needs. As we launch the many additional tools we will be releasing this year, we will simultaneously open up the Freedom Registry to the rest of the world.

Economic Re/integration for Survivors of Trafficking in Cambodia

by Julia Smith-Brake, a member of our team in Cambodia

Chab Dai's 2012 Butterfly Reintegration research report is now downloadable online! We are only 3 years into the 10-year research on the reintegration of survivors of sex trafficking, but there are already some emerging trends and fascinating issues to report on.

One section of this year’s report is on economic reintegration, with survivors’ perspectives on education, vocational training, employment, family financial responsibilities, migration, and poverty. Something I love about this research project is it prioritizes the voices of survivors’ themselves, instead of telling their stories for them.

So what better way to share the main findings from the research than with direct quotes from some of our participants?

On sacrificing for opportunities:

“I prefer to live with my family but I stay longer in the shelter to get my education.”

– Female participant in a shelter program

On desiring appropriate vocational training:

“I want to learn Computer and English language. Beauty salon skill is not enough for me, I want to learn more. If I don’t know how to use computers and English, it will difficult to find a good job in the future. I don’t have a choice so that’s why I learn beauty salon now, but then I want to learn IT and English.”– Female participant in a residential training program

On poverty:

“I feel being poor is complicated.”– Female participant who declined assistance

“For the poor like us, our children didn’t have intelligent games to play. The poor children just played outside and then go to collect the recycling items [scavenging]. Then they become friends with bad friends so their lives are terrible.”– Female participant in a community-based assistance program

On hopes for the future:

“So far, I just want to work in a suitable workplace. I want to save money. When I have saved a lot of money, I can dismantle one store in front of my house and then I can sell groceries. I want to have such a life in the future. I can live peacefully with my family. That’s what I like ... My mother wants me to sell food there but I am not interested in this kind of small business. If I want to run a business, I want to depend on myself. I don’t want to borrow money from others. I am not 50 years old yet, I am still young so I have time to earn a living.”– Female participant in a shelter program 

As you can see, issues survivors are dealing with are difficult and complex. The above quotes are much better understood in the context of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the report, and I invite you to read further by downloading the report here. 

Voluntourism

Written by guest blogger Miranda Kerr, currently volunteering for Chab Dai in Cambodia.

This week in Cambodia, a report was released stating that an Australian-run orphanage had been shut down in an emergency response to human trafficking and abuse (you can read the article here SISHA - Emergency Shutdown).

Before leaving this year, friends would sometimes confuse my plans of working in a school with 'Miranda's trip to an orphanage in Cambodia'. Without taking any offense that my friends didn't know my actual plans (well actually Jemma, I regularly took offense that you couldn't get it right), this little sentence made me cringe inside and I instantly felt the need to say 'no, no - I'm not working in an orphanage'. Why?

Here's why. 

Cambodia's tourism has been booming over the last few years. People are coming here to see the the stunning and ancient temples in Siem Reap, to learn more about the Khmer Rouge regime in Phnom Penh's museums and to soak up the sun and beach down south in Kep. Most come here with the best intentions and when they arrive, the poverty they face draws them to say something along the lines of 'I need to do something'. Keen to help this war-torn country, increasing numbers of tourists are now also working as volunteers.

Unfortunately, well-intentioned volunteers have helped to create a surge in the number of residential care homes (orphanages), tempting impoverished parents with promises of an education and western-style upbringing. In 'worst cases' these children are 'rented' or even 'bought' from their families because they are perceived to be of more value by earning money pretending to be a poor orphan than studying and eventually graduating from school. Parents 'willingly' send their kids to these institutions believing (through the lies they are told) it will provide their child with a better life. Unfortunately in very many cases, it won't.

Orphanages rely on donations and know that the more children they have in their care, the more 'at risk' and 'in need' they are and therefore, more likely to receive funding. Unfortunately, in many of these institutions (but not all), very little of the money donated will ever actually assist the children who will remain living in sub-standard conditions. The orphanages have also relied on the big hearts and curiosity of tourists who are invited into the facility and asked to stay and play with the children.

I get it. I once did that. 

In Hoi An, Vietnam - my friend and I visited an orphanage run by an Irish woman that we'd heard about at a local cafe. It was a warm and fuzzy sort of experience at the time. Cuddling little children and playing games with them before sharing the lychees we'd purchased as a gift before entering. We'd left a donation at the end of the day and (as 19 year olds on our first trip through South-East Asia) promised that we'd return. 

We didn't - and it's taken me 7 years now to reflect on that experience. 

The 19 year old me walked away thinking that somehow I'd made a difference in the lives of those kids. I'd put a smile on their face. I'd given them fruit. I'd given them love, hope, blah blah - who knows what I thought I gave them. 

Really - a stranger, speaking a foreign language, entered their home, took photos, gave them food, held them, waved goodbye and never returned. 

When would that ever be OK in Australia? Or anywhere?

This is SUCH a massive topic and debate for people working with vulnerable children and victims of human trafficking here in Phnom Penh, and mixed in with the heat - doesn't take much to get the blood boiling when reports like the one released by SISHA this morning come out.

Below is a little more information on orphanage tourism. Please, please, PLEASE consider these things before you embark on any journey that may lead you to visiting or volunteering in an orphanage.

Orphanage Tourism - ChildSafe Network This document seeks to assist travelers and volunteers in finding a way to contribute, yet avoid situations or actions that may lead to child exploitation. Certain 'tourist attractions' such as orphanage tours exploit children's vulnerabilities. 

ChildSafe Questions and Answers

Blog post borrowed from Miranda's personal blog, My Traffick Jam.

Academics vs. Practitioners: A Partnership w/Dr. Monti Datta

In the past few weeks, Chab Dai has hosted quite a few artistic, highly skilled, and extremely insightful volunteers and collaborators. We are eager to see how partnerships and projects will grow in the future. One specific partner we are most excited to work with is Dr. Monti Datta, PhD. Assistant Professor in the department of Political Science at the University of Richmond.

After studying human rights for his undergrad, Monti went abroad to see the world. While teaching in Korea and Japan, he noticed two things: first, a strong anti-American sentiment and second, a strong presence of the sex trade. He became more passionate about this issue of human trafficking after realizing just how lucrative of a business it had been for groups like the Japanese mafia.

Last October, when Dr. Kevin Bales visited the University of Richmond to speak about bonded labor, Dr. Datta heard of the need for someone in the university setting to collect factual statistics from  practitioners on the field. To those not in the field of human trafficking this may seem an easy task, however there has been a historical tug of war between academics and practitioners. Academics have long debated whether statistics used by nonprofits and other practitioners have come from factual or rather emotional foundations. And yet here was this well versed academic, Dr. Bales, talking about how important it is to have solid facts and getting them straight from the source. While attending the Human Trafficking Conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last October, Dr. Datta saw the tension between the academics and the practitioners once again. Only this time he decided to become a catalyst for change, and sought out Helen Sworn, founder and director of Chab Dai. Mrs. Sworn was immediately drawn to the idea of doing a practitioner-academic partnership. She knew this could be a chance to build bridges rather then break them down.

The rest is history. Dr. Datta has just finished up working at Chab Dai's Cambodia office interpreting and helping analyze qualitative and empirical work from our Butterfly Project. I'm certain the findings he has gathered over the course of his time in Cambodia will also encourage his next round of students to find their own data, directly from the source and to give credit to both practitioners and academics for the hard work that they do.

To learn more about Dr. Monti Datta, check out his personal website.

Addressing the Needs of Domestic Workers in Malaysia

Photo courtesy of Tenaganita, an NGO addressing exploitation in Malaysia.

As you may remember (from a few months ago), Chab Dai’s office building was formerly a recruitment agency for sending domestic workers to Malaysia.  Now Chab Dai is working to bring them back home.  The past few months have brought about exciting partnerships.  I recently sat down with Ms. Tho Narann (Chab Dai's Malaysia Cross-Border Case Officer), to discuss Chab Dai's brand new pilot project and partnership with the Coalition to Abolish Modern-Day Slavery in Asia {CAMSA Malaysia}.

The conversation between Chab Dai and several human rights and anti-trafficking partner organizations in Malaysia began last year, where the need was strongly expressed for an English-Khmer interpreter to assist Cambodian migrant workers who were experiencing abuse and filing cases in Malaysia.  (You can read about that here). Coordination and further discussions lead to the development of this collaborative-based, case coordination project between Cambodian & Malaysian partner.

“The main goal of the project is to improve the case coordination and tangibly provide a cross-border referral mechanism between Malaysia & Cambodia,” says Narann.   Due in part to language barriers and a complex legal system Cambodian domestic workers who experience exploitation in Malaysia are often labeled and treated as illegal workers, rather than identified as victims of human trafficking.  Though potentially exploited and experiencing physical and psychological abuse, migrant workers may be picked up by police and placed in government shelters or worse, deported.  Without a clear ability to understand the full story from the client, cases sometimes become stagnant.  Narann's role is to support cases of Cambodian migrant workers through Khmer/ English interpretation and assist in referring cases between Cambodian & Malaysian organizations, including repatriation and reintegration support when they return home. As a case officer she is actively building relationships with migrant workers, the Cambodian embassy, Malaysian labour officers, and NGO partners.  Cases can be handled efficiently and properly when the full story is communicated and understood.

Best case scenario, says Narann is to “get the women home and get their compensation from their employer.”  The hope remains for Chab Dai that this project will continue to advocate for Cambodian migrants workers in Malaysia and that further cross-border collaboration will result in sustainable justice and restoration. 

*To see more about Chab Dai and CAMSA, follow our updates on Facebook here and here.