In Cambodia, the problem of violence against children not only harms large numbers of the country's young ones, but translates into significant costs to the nation, both socially and economically.

One in two children in the country have experienced severe beatings, one in four emotional abuse, and one in 20 have faced sexual assault, according to the Cambodia Violence Against Children Survey (CVACS) conducted in 2013.

In 2015, UNICEF Australia support helped the government of Cambodia conduct a study which found that, in that same year (2013), Cambodia lost at least USD$168million, or 1.1 per cent of its GDP, as a result of the negative impact of some of the health consequences caused by violence against children.

Outside the home, one of the first points of contact for women and children that experience abuses or violence are healthcare facilities and healthcare providers.

With this in mind, UNICEF worked with Cambodia's Ministry of Health to develop a Clinical Handbook on Health Care for Children Subjected to Violence or Sexual Abuse. The Handbook aims to ensure prompt and adequate responses by healthcare practitioners to child victims, and to provide guidance on first line support, medical treatment, psychosocial support, and referral to key social and legal protection services.

In January 2018, UNICEF also provided pilot training on the Handbook to 30 public health practitioners and social workers in Kratie Province. UNICEF was able to do this with funding support from the Australian NGO Cooperation Program.

Twenty-seven-year-old Korn is a midwife in the remote district of Chetborey. There are around 11,000 people in the district, and Korn is proud to be serving the people along with her team.

Korn had long been bothered by one aspect of her work – she did not know how to support children who were suffering from violence when they came to seek help. It was obvious that some of the children needed more than physical treatment.

So Korn attended the Handbook training. It gave her a good understanding of the different forms of violence and their impact on children. She also learned about the child-friendly support services a health worker like her should provide to a child victim.

"Before the training, I did not consider verbal abuse or negligence as a form of violence. As for the sexual abuse, I learnt that even showing a pornography picture to a child is considered a violence. I also changed my attitude. When talking to a child, I try to use words that make them trust us, and tell their story." she explained.

For Korn, the benefit of the Handbook and its training has been enormous – not just in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of self-empowerment.

"After the learning, I felt very happy, because I could help my community and do more for the children around me now."

Korn wishes more of her colleagues and health practitioners across the country could receive the training. During her monthly outreach visit to the communities, she has tried to integrate messages about violence against children with vulnerable families.

Korn's story is a vivid example of how filling the knowledge gap and leveraging the existing health structure can lead to a new solution and better services and protection of children in Cambodia.

With the support of UNICEF, the Ministry of Health is planning to roll out Handbook training to many more provinces, in an effort to make the country's health work force a powerful force in the fight against violence against children.