Pov Srey Tun

Mrs. Pov Srey Tun, aged 22, born in Laang village, Laang Commune, Dong Tung District, Kampot province. She’s got polio in legs, dump and deaf since she was born. She comes from poor family in the village. She has three brothers and 5 sisters, so her parents cannot afford to live because her family members are so large and very poor.  

When she was 15 years old, there was a man, named Khourn Touch – her cousin, aged 19, who lived near her house – about 200 meters, raping her while she was taking a bath. And after that, she was raped again by the same man while she was sleeping under her old hut, one meter above the ground. He was not charged with rape because her parents did not put formal complaints to the court. They thought that his mother is the sister of her mother’s, so her parents did not submit everything to the police. After being raped, she was one-month pregnant, and her mother asked her to abort one-month pregnancy.  

She lost hope completely and did nothing except do simple housework. She could not leave her house to find out any skill because her parents were still scared of being suffered and raped if she went out. Her parents who are poor farmers in the village, so her mother decided to work as a farmer in Thailand a few years ago until she fell very sick – she had a serious illness of womb problem, and came back to Cambodia to live in her family, and her father left for working on the salt farm, and left her alone at home with other younger brothers and sisters. 

Having thought Srey Tun’s future life for many months at the same time that she has had a serious illness, she made a decision to send her to CHA program to be provided with tailoring skill and literacy as well as English. Now, she has a bright future life and is very happy to stay with other disabled members who have learned skills among them. Her mother relieves her anxiety and worry of her and has tried to find medicine and treatment for her illness.

Update: Srey Tun has returned to her village.