A B.C. man’s mission of hope in Cambodia, helping human trafficking survivors [Video]

This is the third story in Hidden in Plain Sight, an in-depth series exploring human trafficking and its connection to British Columbia.

Warning: The contents may be disturbing to some readers. 

The bustling Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh is a city filled with street markets and tuk tuks.

It’s a place where the gaps between poverty and wealth stand in sharp contrast.

And it’s here that a side road brings you to a building with a very Canadian connection.

It’s the home of Ratanak International, founded by Brian McConaghy of Delta, B.C.

“This is an environment that is safe for them,” said McConaghy, a retired B.C. RCMP officer who has spent decades helping survivors in Cambodia flee modern-day slavery.

Ratanak is a refuge for traumatized women and teens who’ve just escaped a life of sex trafficking.

“They escape by jumping from moving cars, pretending to be ill so they can be taken to hospital,” he explained.

Ratanak International was founded in Cambodia in 1989.

“We had one …