Gender and Age
At Women Are Gold our main focus is to prevent the sex trafficking of young women and girls. Our main demographic is women and girls between the ages of 12-25 years of age, however if we encounter a young man or boy who is in need of assistance, we will be more than happy to assist him.
Family Background
All of our beneficiaries come from homes that are in dire financial situations. Some of our beneficiaries come from families that have both parents living in the home and working, other clients have both parents in the home and only one parent is working. Some beneficiaries live with family members other than their parents. And some of our beneficiaries are unfortunately orphaned. Most of our beneficiaries come from large families with many siblings, which is very common in Cambodia. One thing each of our beneficiaries has in common is that their family's financial situations puts them at extremely high risk of human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking. Why? In Cambodia it is the daughters responsibility to financially support the family. When the family has extreme debt or financial burden, they often times will send the daughter (at any age) off to find work. Many times these girls find themselves caught in difficult situations and have no way to get out.
Educational Background
All of our beneficiaries are still, thankfully, enrolled in school. This is a priority for us here at Women Are Gold. Currently our clients are studying in grades 5-12.
Seeing education as a priority and a way for young girls to have an opportunity in their future, we have decided to financially support our beneficiaries in their education.
Each month, our beneficiaries receive a $35 educational assistance allowance. This assistance allowance helps cover the costs of transportation to and from school, daily meals, test materials, and ongoing tutoring.
However, this assistance allowance doesn’t come without conditions. Each beneficiary must agree to attend classes on a regular basis, meet with their counselor once a month to review and discuss school assignments and report all grades to Women Are Gold monthly. If these conditions are not followed, their education allowance is discussed, and a plan is made for how to improve on their performance going forward.
Religious Affiliation
Many of our beneficiaries indicate that they follow the teachings of Buddha. This is not a surprise to us as most of the country of Cambodia practices Buddhism. We do however have a few clients that attend the local Christian church and are enrolled in the town Christian school.
At Women Are Gold, our beneficiaries are free to worship whoever they choose, we only require that they remain respectful and kind to the choice of others.
Client Referrals
Women Are Gold is a registered organization in both the United States and in Cambodia. Being a registered organization in Cambodia, allows us to accept referrals from the local government, churches, schools, businesses and other organizations.