Sunday, 8 June 2008

Young Cambodians in fear of sexual slavery

8 June 2008
Nicola Kenkenezov

Every day, girls as young as 18 months are being sold into the sex trade in Cambodia.

The shocking news has touched Noosa hairdresser Leanne Naylor and artist Lyne Redfern so deeply they are focusing all their energy, and large portions of their personal money, into the She Rescue Home to help stop the suffering.

The pair are asking residents to support the cause by attending a fundraising garage sale tomorrow.

The She Rescue Home is a Citipointe Church Brisbane initiative started by senior pastor Leigh Ramsey.

Leigh and husband Mark founded Noosa Christian Outreach Centre in 1987, then moved to the US to pioneer the Christian Outreach Centre movement, before returning to Brisbane in 2000.

Two years ago, Leigh visited Cambodia and saw how young girls were trafficked into prostitution.

“Girls as young as five-years-old are working in brothels, servicing as many as 30 men a day,” she said.

“On my last night in Phnom Penh, my final meal was spent with a 12-year-old girl telling me:

‘My friend. She is 10. Two men tonight. Mother, father sell. You come, you help. Please?’
“For this girl, a rescue home may be her only hope.”

Lyne said the She Home project aimed to help children who were victims of a culture that encouraged women to have extra babies to sell off just to make enough money for their families to survive.

To date, four homes have been established, each caring for about eight girls. At the shelters they receive education, counselling, health care and training for a long-term job.

With running costs for each shelter about $4000 a month, Lyne said it was “not okay for us to ignore this worthwhile charity”.

She encouraged people to give generously to collection tins at businesses around town and attend a garage sale tomorrow at 17 Wyandra Street, Noosa Heads, from 7am-12 noon. A raffle will be held outside The Warehouse at Noosaville next Saturday, a Art in Park expo at the Noosa gallery on July 13, and a high tea is planned for July 26.

make a donation or assist with the fundraising and raffle, call Lyne Redfern on 0405 434 655 or email: lovely_ lyne@hotkey.net.au. For more information, visit: www.sherescuehome.org

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