"I Don't Want the Next Generation of Children to Be in Pain Like Me": The Chab Dai Ten-Year Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project on Sex Trafficking Survivors in Cambodia

The Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project started in 2010 and is the only research project of its kind listening to sex trafficking victims over ten years. The project was started in Cambodia by Chab Dai (translated “Hands Together”), a coalition of Non-Government Organisations since 2006 who have focused on human trafficking. The project was founded with the express purpose of listening to the survivors’ voices and recording their experiences in order to better understand their physical, emotional and spiritual needs during their initial recovery in shelters and reintegration back into their communities. The team of researchers and the participants, all of whom willingly volunteered to tell their stories and remain anonymous, formed trusting relationships that allowed for the information provided for research to be rich and personal. This project used a mixed methodology of both qualitative and quantitative research methods over the course of the decade in order to gain a more holistic view of the survivors’ stories. The data obtained from the research was fed back to the NGOs who were supporting the participants and they have found it valuable to adapt and evolve their aftercare programs to more precisely be tailored to the individual needs of each victim. The results were also presented in technical documents to Government policy makers, UN agencies, academic institutes and other international NGOs. This special edition of Dignity is another attempt to get the information out to the global abolition movement. A primary challenge was to maintain contact with the survivors over such a long period but the fact that this was achieved in a complex environment shows that it can be done and is worth it for all involved.