An 11-years old girl, from Kandal province, is a survivor of rape. She is an older daughter of 3 siblings, whose 1 brother and 2 sisters, in a family of 5 members. The mother is a household and father is a worker at Phnom Penh.
She had repeatedly been raped by an old neighbor 3 times, in April 2016. A 65-years old alleged offender was arrested in May 2016 by local policemen of her community.
She had been referred to a recovery center of AFESIP-Cambodia in May 2016 for her safety and recovery services. AFESIP-Cambodia has provided her legal assistance throughout legal process by working in partnership with a legal aids organization to get her a lawyer to defend her in court.
She had been testified by judge in September 2016 with a presence of her lawyer, attended a trial in early March 2017 and the verdict was publicly announced on 3rd week of March 2017 by provincial court of Kandal. The perpetrator has been convicted for 7 years imprisonment and 5 million Riels fined to compensate the victim. The verdict validates one month for appealing to higher court whether there is any objection on announced verdict from any party, otherwise it is due to commence on April 24, 2017.
Upon arrival at center, our medical doctor had made her general health assessment and found out some diagnosis and we provided her treatments. She had also received dental care, Conjunctivitis, HIV blood test, Syphilis test -, anti-lice elimination, vaccinations of Encephalitis and Hepatitis B and anti-preventive intestinal worm. She is under ongoing treatment of bacterial vaginosis. We will provide her a vaccination of cervical cancer.
Her mental health, upon arrival in the center, diagnosed of major depression and symptoms of anxious, angry, low mood, tearful, headache, low self-esteem. She did not want to talk, scary and nightmare.
Our psychologist provides her CBT, individual counseling, setup goal, art therapy and some homework to help her re-build self-confidence, self-esteem and trust. Now, she gets better but she has sometimes nightmare, flashback of the event and communication with friends. Our psychology team continued to provide her psychological support and it takes more time to recover from these situation.
At AFESIP, beside legal assistance supported, she receives balanced meals, safe and secured accommodation, physical and psychological healthcare as mentioned above and formal education in public school with other girls from AFESIP-Cambodia’s center and children from villages. She has now studied grade 6 in a primary school. Her dream she wants to be a nurse so that she could be help the others who have heal problem.
Thanks our supporters for your continued support our work on the ground, your contribution is making a difference for lives of the young women and girls we work with. Together we can build peace to free the women and children in our community from all forms of exploitation and slavery.
