Exploited Teen: Asia

Mina returned to school, and later became a peer counselor for other rescued teens. She now helps design awareness campaigns so families know the signs of trafficking. "My hands once wove silk for a cage," she says. "Now they write letters of freedom." If you or someone you know is in a similar situation, help exists. Organizations like ECPAT International , Children of the Forest , or local child protection hotlines (such as Cambodia’s 1288 hotline) provide rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration services. No debt is worth a child’s freedom.

One night, a young woman named Srey, who had escaped from the same place a year earlier, returned in secret. She had connected with a local NGO called Chhlat ("Hope" in Khmer). Srey slipped a note to Mina through a crack in the wall: "We know. A van will come Tuesday night. Leave your window unlocked." exploited teen asia

At Chhlat's shelter, Mina received medical care, counseling, and—for the first time in months—three meals a day. She learned that she was not at fault, and that her mother had been tricked too. Through the organization's legal aid, her family's debt was renegotiated, and her mother found work with a fair-trade cooperative. Mina returned to school, and later became a