When Jacob* arrived at Hagar, he was sad and angry. He was only 12 years old but trauma was already etched on his face. Instead of warmth and safety, Jacob’s life at home was rife with violence and danger. The abuse and threats from his stepfather were severe and they happened almost every day. Jacob felt his only hope was to run away from home. In the middle of the night, Jacob

Hagar pursues the highest degree of care and protection for each of its clients. To protect the identity of our clients, names have been changed and images do not necessarily represent the individual profiled.

Used to the city’s most noisy and difficult place- the wholesale market since childhood, Binh forged herself to be tough, resilient and independent to survive in a harsh environment. But no matter how strong her voice was, her sound was mute at home. In her house, nothing could be heard except her husband’s cursing, shouting and beatings. Binh had interacted with Hagar before and after receiving support and advice, she thought she

Like many girls who grew up in the Northern mountainous region, Dang did not receive family support for her education due to financial hardship. She always dreamed about wearing a uniform and going to school like other girls, however she found herself having to carry her family’s responsibilities at a very young age.​ Furthermore, lacking the ability to speak or write in the national Kinh language, Dan faced many difficulties and had

What would be the most precious moment in your life? For Dan, it was her reunion with her mother in Vietnam after 17 years of being trafficked in China. Dan’s father died when she was young, and her mother had to work hard to make ends meet for her family. Therefore, Dan always tried to find more work to help out her mother. Knowing Dan’s families’ struggles, their neighbor offered to help

Minea (not her real name) is currently 22 years old and was born to a poor family in Phnom Penh. A few years ago, Minea quit her studies to work at a garment factory with her older sister to help support her family. In 2018, a “friend” preyed on her precarious family situation and trafficked her to China, via a network of brokers, on the pretense of marrying a nice man and

 Tien was trafficked from Vietnam to China at the young age of 16, where she was sold to 3 different Chinese men. Almost 2 years later, she managed to escape back to Vietnam but due to financial difficulties, she couldn’t continue her studies and instead, took up a job at her uncle’s coffee shop to make money. To make things worse, her hopes of things getting better were dashed as the people

“Is this the right thing to do? Am I a bad mother?” Those thoughts had haunted Hy’s mind for years when she made the tough decision to leave her abusive husband and took her daughter with her. As a child, Hy always felt like a black sheep in her family because she was diagnosed with the chronic skin disease condition, vitiligo. Having an abnormal appearance come hardship, as it became a plausible

Lina was just 20 years old when she was lured in by a broker, Klok, with the promise of a high salary and ‘all expenses covered’ trip to China to begin an illustrious new job. However, this was all just a disguise for the fact that she had been brokered to marry a Chinese man. In excitement and not knowing her fate, Lina fled Cambodia without even telling her family. After having

From overcoming the trauma of abuse, to being a role model in her community. We are so inspired by Ân’s story. Ân from Vietnam was forced into marriage at just 14 years of age. Like many girls of that age, she really wasn’t mentally, physically, and economically unprepared. To exacerbate the issue, Ân’s husband did not have a stable job and was struggling with the pressure of having so little money. He