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Center helps kidnap escapees
Li Chunhong, a 16-year-old girl from Sichuan Province, thought her world had fallen apart when she was kidnapped and forced into prostitution a year ago. The rural girl had dreamed of a well-paid job in the city, but fell into the hands of human traffickers shortly after she left her hometown in Renshou County, in the outback of the province. Though she was soon rescued and sent home by police, she could not manage to regain faith in life, until she was offered psychotherapy at a recuperation center for kidnapped women and children. "I could not shed the nightmare, even though life turned normal again after I went home," Li said. "The trauma was still there and the unpleasant past made me feel humble and disgraced." Besides a systematic psychotherapy, Li was offered free lodging, counseling and professional training that aimed to qualify her for a job in the future. The recuperation center in Pixian County, established in November 2003, has reignited hope for Li and hundreds of other kidnapped women and children who have managed to escape from human traffickers. The center also helps the victims get in touch with their families and sends them home, after some time of treatment that can heal their wounds to the maximum extent possible. All the running costs of the center, about 300,000 yuan (US$36,145) to 400,000 yuan a year, are subsidized by the provincial and local governments, said Cao Hong, an official with the provincial public security authority. "It's crucial to help the kidnapped people regain self-esteem, independence and courage and pick up enough skills to support themselves in the future," said Cao. Before the massive crackdown in 2001, Sichuan had a high incidence of human trafficking. Agricultural Renshou County alone reported more than 2,000 human trafficking cases between 1995 and 2000. As most victims were children and rural women between 16 and 30 years old, the local women's federation joined hands with the public security authorities and the United Nations Children's Fund to compile self-help booklets that explained in simple words and vivid pictures how rural women should protect themselves. Besides the center in Pixian County, three similar units have been set up in Yunnan and Jiangsu provinces as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. |
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