Family reunion after 20 year-old abuse

Nom and her four children hold each other’s hands to show their hope after rescue by CWCC

 
 Living at the shelter in Siem Reap, Nom* first revealed the case of serious domestic violence in her family to the staff of the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center.
   The victim dared not speak out about the violence when she first met with CWCC staff.
After receiving psychological and legal counseling, she told CWCC staff that her broken leg was because of the violence from her husband. Her daughter also revealed that she was raped by her father many times.
   Nom and her children escaped from the 49 year-old husband and father after experiencing domestic violence for over 20 years. One of Nom’s other daughters was rescued several months beforehand and lived at the shelter before her mother.
   The 13 year-old-daughter escaped from the house because of the violence and rape from her father.
   Her mother and three other siblings accidentally met her at the shelter so they hugged and cried when they reunited.
   Nom described her life of violence, “he fought with me almost every day. We couldn’t easily escape because he locked us in the house and threatened to kill us. Every time we did escape he would find us and torture us,” she continued.
   Chan Norak, the Monitoring Officer of CWCC said “we’ve supported the victim to file complaints against the suspect of domestic violence and rape of his own children and the Prosecutor has already sought to arrest the suspect.”
   Nom said that she is very happy that she and her four children are safe and receive skills training and literacy classes at CWCC’s safe shelter. “I hope my children will get a proper job and and we can be safe one day. CWCC’s shelter is the safest place for us to continue our lives,” she added.