An elderly man is walking through a slum market in Thailand carrying a clean, well dressed baby in his arms. The child has a red ribbon around its wrist. This child is for sale.
Child trafficking is rampant throughout the world, but particularly in India, southeast Asia and southern Europe. The US Justice Department (2004) reports that at least 300,000 children are traded across international borders each year.
Child trafficking is the enslavement of children for the purpose of exploitation. Child trafficking takes many forms such as:
- forced labour, including dangerous labour
- various forms of sexual exploitation
- military conscription
- illicit adoption
- forced child marriage
All children who are trafficked are at a heightened risk of being abused sexually, physically and emotionally.
Children are more at risk of being trafficked if they are female (70%, ibid), come from rural, poor, sick or dysfunctional households, have ethnic minority status, are between the ages of 12-16 or good looking, or lack education or vocational training.
Children are sold like commodities into trafficking by family members, neighbours or community members. The networks into which the children are sold represent a multibillion dollar industry that operates with virtual impunity within and across international borders.
Hope for the Nations takes the view that all child trafficking is preventable. To that end, we work with local partners towards the prevention of child trafficking through interventions that support families and communities to recognize threats, create alternative sources of income, and protect children. We also work in the area of rehabilitating children who have been trafficked. We welcome you to become informed and get involved in one of our many projects!
Who We Are
Chab Dai (literally “joining hands” in Khmer) was founded in Cambodia in 2005 with the vision to bring an end to trafficking and sexual exploitation through coalition building, community prevention, advocacy and research. In addition to the office in Cambodia, the vision of Chab Dai has been expanded into the USA and Canada. HFTN is a member of this coalition.
Core Values
- LEARNING... We are committed to address issues of abuse and exploitation by working together and providing opportunities for learning, while enabling, strengthening and supporting each other.
- STRENGTHENING... We believe partnership in coalition creates more collaboration for advocacy, and enables us to support one another more effectively - both practically and spiritually.
- SUPPORTING... Working together as the body of Christ enables us to keep our individual identities while also acknowledging the broader issues we face as a whole.
- ENABLING... We exist so that families and communities at risk, and those who have been sexually abused, exploited or trafficked can be all that God created them to be.
Chab Dai Objectives
- Chab Dai is committed to assist organizations collaborate with one another, and improve capacity in technical skills; program support; organizational development; networking and staff support; and child protection.
- Chab Dai is committed to resource organizations and provide a greater understanding on the related issues through resource libraries. Our library in Cambodia currently holds resources on more than 60 categories, from Advocacy to Project Cycle Management and the global sex industry.
- Chab Dai is committed to advocacy and preventative initiatives in order for vulnerable women, children and communities to have a greater awareness of the risks of trafficking and abuse, as well as greater access to appropriate support structures.
- Chab Dai is committed to seeing more safe places for victims of exploitation and trafficking, with high quality after care and an emphasis on successful reintegration. This includes alternative care programs such as foster care, kinship care, and community based care.
Chab Dai Activities:
- Providing help, support and resources to individuals, organizations and churches
- Developing and distributing innovative resources to assist with programs working in the areas of prevention, intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration.
- Setting up and operating a Resource Center, library and community learning center for members and individuals interested in learning more about related issues.
- Working with communities, organizations and government ministries to identify strategies to address the issues of sexual abuse, trafficking and program gaps.
- Developing training programs to build the capacity of staff working directly with victims in aftercare situations.
- Facilitating advice clinics and forums for organizations to discuss and address issues relating to their work.
- Carrying out specific research studies which make recommendations at both program and advocacy levels.
- A commitment to pray for each other and the issues faced by each partner organization. www.chabdai.org