Prevention of Child Prostitution in Thailand, YOU CAN HELP!
Child prostitution is an international
problem. It is especially a problem in Thailand in South East Asia. June spent three
months volunteering at a non-government organization in North Thailand that works to
prevent child prostitution among hill tribe girls in 1998. She is actively involved in
presenting speeches about her experiences and about this horrible societal evil.
"Children are not sexual objects, but the future for the human race. To abuse and
exploit them is to endanger our own future as a species. Vile acts are often repeated
generation after generation. If someone in your family or a friend is involved with
incest, child pedophilias, or the molestation of children, PLEASE take action and contact
your local authorities."
One such
non government organization that works tirelessly to protect children from sexual
exploitation is Daughter's Education Program, located in Mae Sai Thailand. I personally
volunteered there, December through January 1997-98, and am impressed with their
operation. I currently do public seminars, lectures and speeches regarding the problem of
child prostitution free of charge to public audiences, private organizations, and
churches. If you would like more information about Daughter's Educational Program and
Development Center (DEPDC or DEP for short) (http://www.depdc.org)
send a self addressed stamped envelope to my
address with a request for "DEP info", and I will mail you a flyer about DEP,
and my experiences there.
DEP is in desperate need
right now for financial contributions in order to take care of the girls it has rescued
from child prostitution. It is well known through out Europe and Japan; but it has few
American sponsors. I do not know the reason for this, perhaps lack of media exposure. At
any rate, they can accept personal checks from American banks. If you would like to help,
even it is just $5.00 or more, please consider making a donation to them. I can guarantee
that they use the money to help these girls.
The girls at Daughter's
Education Program Development Center live on site in bamboo huts, that are over run with
huge rats. (I also experienced these "rats" when I lived on site in a bamboo
hut. These rats are the size of cats). These Thai hill tribe girls do not have
any money, and almost no school supplies. DEP provides the girls with a basic
education, and life skills training (how to cook, clean for themselves). It is hoped that
when the girls grow up, they can move back to their home villages and become teachers and
help fight child prostitution on the community/ local level.
Brothel agents travel into the rural areas of North
Thailand and look for virgins they can buy or "rent" from their parents. Often
they tell lie and tell the parents that their daughters will work in a Bangkok hotel
or otherwise respectable job, while in reality, they will be selling their bodies, often
several times every day to make the pimps money. Once the girls are enslaved, there is no
escape. They are lucky if they are not beaten or killed. They see none of the
"prostitute money" as the pimps keep it all, to make the girls pay off their
keep. The pimps charge them for room and board and the initial money that was paid to
their parents.
One young girl that I
met had been locked in a room and forced to serve upward of ten men a day. She was only
eight years old. After observing this problem in Thailand, and my association with
Daughter's Education Program, I decided that I had to try to raise money to help DEP help
these girls. If we each do something, at least some girls can be rescued. I believe they
all can be rescued, but it can't happen without financial resources.
Please consider writing
for more information and donating a little money to DEP; they sure need it, especially a
program they have called the "leadership program". Daughter's Education
Program's founder, administrator and current director is Sompop Jantraka. He was a
musician and a bamboo flute maker who became concerned when he saw the condition his fellow
country women and Thai children were living in, so he started DEP to help stop child
prostitution at the community level, where it starts (as this is where the pimps
"target" to find new, virgin flesh).
Note: As of
January of 1999, I learned that DEP is no longer an exclusive
agent at rescuing hill tribe girls from possible prostitution.
While the majority of the girls at DEP are girls rescued from
villages, I consider the work of DEP still closely related to the
cause to which it originally was created to serve.
As of the
present, DEP functions as a community center to help hill tribe
children from all kinds of environments. I believe it is due to
pressure from the Thai government that Sompop ceased his rescue of
girls from child prostitution. It is currently being stated that
child prostitution is no longer a problem in the Northern Thai
region. Based on my research, I don't believe this. Daughters'
Education Programme remains an important community center that
educates children from hill tribe areas, including those rescued
in the mid 1990s. Many of these girls have learned trades and go
on to meaningful work in other parts of Thailand. DEP is now
registered with the Thai Government. That is all I know at this
time. However, I still strongly support the work they are doing,
even if they are not actively rescuing girls.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP DEPDC: DEPDC is
at organization with no religious affiliation which relies on
grants and donations to continue its work. You can donate to DEPDC by:
- Raising money for DEPDC is an
excellent way YOU and your church or service organization can help
a community centered effort to help children.
Money is needed
desperately to pay for general things at DEP like food, clothing, and educational expenses
of the DEPDC girls. They come from extremely poor hill tribe families, and cannot make
money. They are not recognized as Thai citizens by the Thai government, because as they
are part of the indigenous population, Hill Tribes, their birth is not registered with the
government. The result is that their families are not allowed to own their own land, or
work in jobs. That leaves little other opportunities to earn a living. This is one of the
root causes for so many hill tribe girls to be recruited or sold into child prostitution.
Girls as young as AGE 7 are used! Please consider writing for more information about the
work DEPDC is doing, and consider presenting it to your church or service organizations as
a potential fund raising cause. Please let me know if I can help you do this. I do not
charge any money for my work or help in raising money for DEPDC. I want to see these girls
have a brighter future, and the only way this is going to happen is through development,
and development and education costs MONEY.
 
Above Left: A Thai girl working on her education instead of
being sold into the sex industry.
Above Right: Bamboo huts and lodges on a river in Mae Sai, Thailand. Across the river on the right side is the country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).
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