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    Helen Sworn: Joanna Mayhew Conor Wall

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    Helen Sworn has worked in Cambodia for 15 years addressing human trafficking. She founded Chab Dai, a coalition of 57 organizations working collaboratively to end trafficking. Her perspectives have evolved from initially seeing trafficking as children being sold at the border, to understanding it as a complex issue with underlying social and cultural factors. While progress has been made in reducing exploitation of young minors, trafficking has shifted more underground in recent decades. There is optimism that continued efforts to support survivors and strengthen communities can further reduce trafficking in Cambodia over time.

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    Helen Sworn: Joanna Mayhew Conor Wall

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    JoannaMayhew
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    Helen Sworn has worked in Cambodia for 15 years addressing human trafficking. She founded Chab Dai, a coalition of 57 organizations working collaboratively to end trafficking. Her perspectives have evolved from initially seeing trafficking as children being sold at the border, to understanding it as a complex issue with underlying social and cultural factors. While progress has been made in reducing exploitation of young minors, trafficking has shifted more underground in recent decades. There is optimism that continued efforts to support survivors and strengthen communities can further reduce trafficking in Cambodia over time.

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    Helen Sworn

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    Helen Sworn has worked in Cambodia for 15 years addressing human trafficking. She founded Chab Dai, a coalition of 57 organizations working collaboratively to end trafficking. Her perspectives have evolved from initially seeing trafficking as children being sold at the border, to understanding it as a complex issue with underlying social and cultural factors. While progress has been made in reducing exploitation of young minors, trafficking has shifted more underground in recent decades. There is optimism that continued efforts to support survivors and strengthen communities can further reduce trafficking in Cambodia over time.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    100 views1 page

    Helen Sworn: Joanna Mayhew Conor Wall

    Uploaded by

    JoannaMayhew
    Helen Sworn has worked in Cambodia for 15 years addressing human trafficking. She founded Chab Dai, a coalition of 57 organizations working collaboratively to end trafficking. Her perspectives have evolved from initially seeing trafficking as children being sold at the border, to understanding it as a complex issue with underlying social and cultural factors. While progress has been made in reducing exploitation of young minors, trafficking has shifted more underground in recent decades. There is optimism that continued efforts to support survivors and strengthen communities can further reduce trafficking in Cambodia over time.

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    26 AsiaLIFE Cambodia AsiaLIFE Cambodia 27

    Helen Sworn
    26 AsiaLIFE Cambodia AsiaLIFE Cambodia 27
    What was your frst exposure
    to human trafcking?
    I moved to Cambodia 15 years
    ago, and my frst piece of
    research was looking at this
    phenomenon occurring on the
    border between Cambodia and
    Thailand. It was 1999, and the
    journey from Batambang to
    Poipet, which now is two hours,
    took 17. I remember thinking,
    this is the most horrendous
    journey Ive ever done. It
    wasnt until I got to Poipet and
    understood the entry point
    into this whole horrifc issue
    of trafcking that the journey
    became symbolic. It symbolised
    that it was a really hard road,
    there were loads of issues along
    the way, breakdowns, potholes,
    [but] it was worth it.
    How would you describe
    today's trafcking situation?
    There has been progress made.
    Even though statistics are
    difcult to get in a world where
    criminals are operating in
    multiple layers, we know that
    the level of sexual exploitation of
    young minors has gone down.
    However, [in] the last decade
    weve seen a shift underground.
    Before, it was much more visible.
    Police could do brothel raids,
    pick up the girls prety quickly
    and get them into aftercare,
    pick up a lot of the customers,
    and some of the pimps. A lot of
    the cases were seeing are still
    minors. There is a large market
    for [the 15 to 18] age group, and
    that is a huge concern.
    What are some common
    misconceptions?
    I think one of the assumptions a
    lot of foreigners come in with is
    that most of the men exploiting
    minors for sex are Caucasian.
    In fact, the majority of them
    are Asian. The top exploiter
    within any nationality is the
    local nationality. [Another]
    myth is that sexual trafcking
    only happens to girls. Thats
    become the typical imagery. But
    actually, for the foreign cases,
    about 60 percent of the victims
    are boys.
    Is the increased atention on
    anti-trafcking helpful?
    I think there is a danger point
    that trafcking has become
    the sexy issue. You get a huge
    infux of money, atention,
    organisations, but if that is not
    coordinated, it can create chaos.
    We have seen a lot of people
    coming to address this, but
    theyre not necessarily doing
    it in a collaborative manner,
    and they dont necessarily
    understand a lot of the complex
    issues within the Cambodian
    culture, within the history.
    People are led by their heart
    on this issue, but sometimes
    they forget to bring their brain
    with them. You get lots of well
    meaning people, but they dont
    really know what theyre doing.
    And that is a huge risk factor.
    A lot of people start working
    on this issue and get paralysed
    by emotion. Some people may
    say Im hard-headed, but what
    Cambodia doesnt need is a
    lot of emotional wrecks. They
    need people who are able to
    strategise for responses, to
    support them, to help them
    develop policy.
    Why was Chab Dai created?
    The rationale behind seting
    up Chab Dai was this infux
    of well-meaning individuals
    and organisations. I started to
    say, how about we develop
    some kind of coalition, so we
    can pool our resources, so we
    can be more strategic. We tried
    to get a very diverse group
    of organisations now weve
    got 57 members but we
    look at the most critical piece,
    which is common ground and
    common vision. Chab Dai in
    Khmer means joining hands. It
    symbolises solidarity, that we
    have a voice together and that
    together were much stronger
    than being apart.
    Weve [also] developed
    a grassroots movement of
    advocates. Weve got literally
    tens of thousands of villagers
    who are trained every year
    by volunteers [on keeping
    communities safe]. And thats
    the dream. Thats really what
    we want to see happen here.
    What can the average person
    living here do?
    We have a responsibility
    to be the eyes and ears on
    the ground, and not to shut
    our eyes to it. There are so
    many ways people can begin
    to protect those that are
    vulnerable. A lot of recognising
    trafcking is looking at how
    much freedom somebody has.
    Girls are not in chains very
    often. Boys are not in chains
    very often. But psychological
    chaining is the most powerful
    way to control somebody. If
    there is somebody who is a
    minor, you can prety much
    guarantee they are not there
    of their own accord. Dont
    put yourself into situations
    of staking out a brothel or a
    KTV. There are professionals
    who can do that. But if you see
    somebody whos vulnerable,
    there is a child helpline, there
    is an anti-trafcking hotline.
    These are positive ways you can
    interact. But dont do it on your
    own. Contact the professionals.
    How have your own
    perspectives evolved?
    At the beginning, I thought I
    could understand trafcking
    very easily. I saw that children
    were being sold through a
    border, so that was trafcking.
    Now, 15 years on, I feel like I
    know less and less. My own
    learning journey is always
    so steep; things are changing
    all the time, the environment
    is changing. Its blown apart
    my simplistic view of what
    trafcking was. We have to
    address the underlying issues if
    were ever going to see an end to
    it. We started working on things
    like family values, parenting
    things that seem unconnected
    but [are] actually the foundation
    of stable communities.
    Is there reason for optimism?
    Absolutely. I know that
    [survivors] have experienced
    horrifc things in their lives, but
    for those around them to lose
    hope does them a disservice.
    We need to look at where
    theyre going, and not just
    focus on where theyve come
    from. Weve seen the decline
    in the very young who are
    being exploited. We have seen
    prosecutions and extraditions
    happen here. We take what we
    can get. Sometimes, we dont
    get much for a long time, but
    then when it comes, we take
    what we can get, and we gain
    hope from it.
    Take action: To report suspected
    perpetrators, call APLE on 092
    311 511; to protect young victims,
    call the ChildSafe Hotline on 012
    311 112
    Joanna Mayhew meets the founder and director
    of Chab Dai, a coalition of organisations working to
    end human trafcking. Photograph by Conor Wall.

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