Child abuse, prostitution, child pornography and trafficking have cast the darkest of shadows over Thailand.

The Center for Protection of Children’s Rights of Thailand talks of numbers of several thousands of abused orphans living in shelters throughout Thailand. It estimates that only 20% of these orphans are successfully reintegrated back in to society. One of the main stumbling blocks of this process is that many of the care-givers in the shelters are not trained sufficiently to support and assist in the reintegration process. Due to insufficient resources many shelters in Thailand are unable to address child trauma and provide the specialised care that is fundamental to an abused child’s healing process.

At Lotus Flower Foundation (LFF) we are approaching the problems associated with child abuse from an integrated macro perspective, collaborating and lobbying with local partners to reinforce Thai laws against child trafficking and abuse, building child abuse prevention programs, raising public awareness of Children’s Rights and setting national standards for shelters dealing with abused children.

Children who are victims of abuse are generally very vulnerable to drug or alcohol addiction as well as repeated sexual exploitation. Many child victims find it hard to break free of the vicious cycle of abuse and often go on to display abusive behavior themselves.

In order to prevent reoccurring abuse in shelters and optimise the reintegration process, LFF is lobbying to the Thai government to tighten rules and regulations for shelters dealing with abused children and has put together a Lotus Flower Blossom Program (LFBP) to educate care-givers working at the various government and non-government shelters throughout Thailand on child psychology, alternative education philosophy, life skills and trauma relief methods.

The LFBP will be taught at the LFF Academy in Nondburi, which is scheduled to open in early 2009, linked to a live model rehabilitation shelter for 30 abused orphans, run after the teachings of the LFF Academy.

Born to Thai and Swiss parents, Mom Rajawongsi Tajvarn Voravarn Saicheua and Baron Franz von Reding de Biberegg, I am entirely committed to the cause of LFF and firmly believe that, with the assistance of highly professional people from Thailand and across the world, we will able to facilitate real and lasting change!

Gabrielle Nujna von Reding, Founder