A cook in the Cambodian city Siem Reap, Chhean was compelled to take action against her sister’s tyrannical husband when in 2008 he sold his two-year-old daughter to a trafficking ring so he could buy a new motorbike. Chhean, a widow and sole provider for her four children, urged her sister Baen to file a law suit and openly demanded that her brother-in-law get the two year old back. Instead, her brother-in-law threatened Chean’s life. That threat turned real one day when he drove by on his motorbike while Chhean was working and threw acid on her.

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Leaving the comforts of city life was not easy in the beginning for Cambodian youths Chhay Theara and Chea Samphors, who voluntarily agreed to live and work in rural communities to affect behavioral change and attitudes towards gender-based violence. They faced challenges that would send many others packing. Not fully understanding the concept of volunteerism, rural community members received Theara, 26, and Samphors, 25, with skepticism. As a woman, Samphors had to also overcome gender bias, proving to the village chief that she was capable of doing what a man can do.

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