Cambodia

Emerging from the ravages of conflict and relatively recent genocide, Cambodia is a country with rich cultural heritage and at the same time, deep inter-generational trauma. With an estimated 256,800 people living in modern slavery, it has the highest prevalence of slavery in the world after North Korea and Uzbekistan. Domestic and gender-based violence are prevalent, with a recent UNICEF report revealing that one in five Cambodian men between the ages of 18 and 49 admitted to perpetrating rape.

Hagar works directly with people who are the human face of these harrowing statistics to provide healing, justice, and freedom from fear. At the individual level, we ensure they have a safe place to live, and loving foster families to care for children in the community. We provide them with trauma counselling, medical care and legal advice to help them understand their rights and seek justice. They have the opportunity to go to school, learn vocational skills or gain a university degree. Ultimately, they are supported to secure a job so they can live independently.

At the national level, we work closely with the Royal Government of Cambodia to increase capacity within provincial and national ministries, as well as police to sustain this life-changing work in their country. We also developed a toolkit for legal professionals, which is now being used across the country to ensure that children who have survived abuse are not re-traumatised during the legal process. We are currently working in close collaboration with First Step Cambodia, to support the government in developing Cambodia’s first set of social work standards.

Learn more about how our work in Cambodia is changing lives.

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