After going through the dark experience of sexual abuse and exploitation, most survivors disperse and there is less opportunity for them to come together. For this reason, APLE’s court support team supported by ECPAT International conducted a local consultation in Phnom Penh on 10 October 2016. The aim of this gathering was to bring survivors together and identify their knowledge, ability, comments, and challenges, which will then help to advocate for global attention on survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation everywhere.
There were 8 survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation attending this discussion. They actively shared their ideas both in group sessions and in the whole forum. They said that this was a great event for them because they could share a lot of opinions and express what they need to the world. They were very happy to hear that there will be livestreaming of the Global Forum and that they are welcome to join the online discussion on the day of the Global Forum (18 November 2016) and that they could post comments and ask questions in a secure chat room. Some participants said when they joined this discussion, they learned new ideas from other survivors and suggested to have a similar discussion again in the future.
