By Elizabeth Tomei and Pin Sisovann
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
British Ambassador David Reader on Monday urged Cambodian police to fight child sex abuse perpetrated by their fellow countrymen, rather than focusing disproportionately on arresting Westerners who abuse children.
Addressing an audience of NGO workers, lawyers, officials and 26 police officers on the first day of a child protection training workshop funded by the British Embassy, Reader said that there should be "more prosecution of Khmers and other nationals [for child sex abuse], not just Westerners."
Reader added that the responsibility to curb child sex abuse rests with Cambodian authorities.
"We in the West have taken the conscious decision to fight [child sex abuse in Cambodia].... But the job is very much yours," he said at the World Vision Cambodia conference center in Chamkar Mon district, where training will continue through Friday.
Most child-sex offenders arrested and prosecuted in Cambodia are Cambodians, said Keo Thea, deputy chief of the municipal anti-human trafficking department.
Out of hundreds arrested for child sexual abuse in 2006, Keo Thea said that more than 10 were Westerners, though he could not recall an exact figure.
He added that police have difficulty convicting many suspected child-sex offenders due to a lack of evidence.
Un Sokunthea, director of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection in the Interior Ministry, said 670 Cambodians and foreign nationals were arrested for child abuse last year, 92 of whom were handed prison sentences of between five and 75 years.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that the authorities do not exclusively target either foreign or Cambodian sex abusers.
Haidy Ear-Dupuy, advocacy and communications manager at World Vision Cambodia, said cases of foreign sex abuse are more visible and often receive more media attention.
Cambodian police are badly in need of training about victims' rights, as outdated investigation techniques tend to place the burden of proof on victims, Haidy Ear-Dupuy added.
Addressing an audience of NGO workers, lawyers, officials and 26 police officers on the first day of a child protection training workshop funded by the British Embassy, Reader said that there should be "more prosecution of Khmers and other nationals [for child sex abuse], not just Westerners."
Reader added that the responsibility to curb child sex abuse rests with Cambodian authorities.
"We in the West have taken the conscious decision to fight [child sex abuse in Cambodia].... But the job is very much yours," he said at the World Vision Cambodia conference center in Chamkar Mon district, where training will continue through Friday.
Most child-sex offenders arrested and prosecuted in Cambodia are Cambodians, said Keo Thea, deputy chief of the municipal anti-human trafficking department.
Out of hundreds arrested for child sexual abuse in 2006, Keo Thea said that more than 10 were Westerners, though he could not recall an exact figure.
He added that police have difficulty convicting many suspected child-sex offenders due to a lack of evidence.
Un Sokunthea, director of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection in the Interior Ministry, said 670 Cambodians and foreign nationals were arrested for child abuse last year, 92 of whom were handed prison sentences of between five and 75 years.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that the authorities do not exclusively target either foreign or Cambodian sex abusers.
Haidy Ear-Dupuy, advocacy and communications manager at World Vision Cambodia, said cases of foreign sex abuse are more visible and often receive more media attention.
Cambodian police are badly in need of training about victims' rights, as outdated investigation techniques tend to place the burden of proof on victims, Haidy Ear-Dupuy added.
16 comments:
First, Pedophile is a westerners'
invention. They got bored with
their normal sex convention and
they started to explore their own
children. You find all types
people who are pedophiles in the
west: teachers, senators, police
officers,..., and even Presidents
if anyone care to do a hair
splicing investigation.
And through the corrupted UN
workers, that is how we caught their
diseases.
Anyway, there are reason why more
westerners are getting caught. It
is simply because they are wealthy
and attract much more crowds than
poor Asians' abusers. Do you have
to be a brain surgeon to figure
this out?
British Ambassador didn't get a slide piece of Cambodia pizza. He truly failed to understand the mission of Cambodia's politics.
I don't understand. Would you mind
explaining it further?
Pedophile is not western invention you fool, read Chinese history if you shit head Viet do not have your own history!
pedophile is coming from human culture. tracing back to too many thousand years while our earth was still one piece, 2 daughters raped their fathers while he was drugged by his two daughters (from middle of asia). too many that we don't know about incest.
women raped boys, men raped girls or vice versa. now we see a lot old women raped boys (teachers and the young students).
it happens in every culture, nation all over the world.
LOL, sorry but I aint buying no
thousands years old history.
I have hard enough time agreeing
with ancient Khmer history.
As for asian, in the khmer old days
and some part of laos today, girl
as young as 14 are still getting
married. But that is tradition.
That is not pedophiles.
However, we are talking about
kids as young as 11 or 12 being
molested in the west a lot more.
I have seen report on the Net
about the US required their
pedophiles to report there
whereabout periodically. Why?
Because the country is a breading
ground for pedophiles. Am I wrong?
4:55 and 11:47
You must be one and the same. Before you comment such nonsense you should read up about the phenomenon of pedophilia, as well as homosexuality. This is not a Western thing, this has been around since humankind came into being. In all cultures, however, it is hidden as it is unlawful and punishable by extreme sentences. You might want to look at Nepali and Indian history. It was pretty much widespread there. What has that got to do with Khmer? Your history and theirs is closely linked by the roots of Buddhism and Hinduism, which is not to say that these religions propagate pedophilia. However, it was openly practiced in some, also Asian, cultures, by the aristocracy and royalty. This subject is much more complex than meets the eye. It is only now coming to the foreground because of the mass media and most of all, the internet. Is the U. S. or Europe a breeding ground? Hardly, it is just more reported on than before, and the population is now over 300 million in the U. S. Consequently, the incidences are much higher today than, say 100 years ago, when the U. S. was just 80 million or so. Think before you put the blame squarely on the West.
It doesn't matter, where the root
is. Plus, how do we know it is
not learned from the westerner
explorers at the time.
What is important is the last
several decades, and the wests
are just infested with pedophiles/
gays/and Lesbians, and the Easts
are infested with polygamies, LOL.
In Cambodian culture, girls get married at a very young age. I've heard of 13-14 year old girls getting married at that age. Isn't that paeddophile too even though it's consent and bound by marriage?
That is a very good argument, that
is if you consider the intercourse
at that age.
Other than that, there is a few
differences such as it only applied
to girl, not boy; the formal
wedding, and the tradition;
On the other hand, pedophile is
more of an immoral and unapproved
minor exploitation. It is almost
like you steal or rob it from
someone. I mean the robbing itself
is a crime. So there is some
difference there. That the best
I can do, LOL.
If the girl is married at that age i'm sure there is intercourse between her and the husband. To me, it is still sort of unapproved on her behalf and of a minor exploitation as the young girl does not have a choice. She is to marry whatever man her parents chooses. But i think that the marriage age for girls in Cambodia has increased now except maybe in the rural areas.
Basically, you are right, it doesn't matter where it originally comes from. History has shown that general affluence, e. g. in Egypt, Rome, now in the Europe and North America, leads to degeneration, e. g. sexual excesses, consuming greed, etc. But I still don't think one can say sexual predators, and that includes pedophiles and child molesters, are primarily Western. There are all kinds of deviant sexual practices abundant in both East and West. Also, one needs to differentiate between pedophilia (where the victim is abused) and traditional custom (as with the marriage of girls as soon as they reach child-bearing age).
Post2:28, just because girls
follows their parent decision does
not mean they have no Choice.
That is part of khmer heritage.
In general, it is fine by millions
and millions for generations. If
it is bad, the heritage will have
died. And just like any other case,
there will be exception, that is
domestic abuses, but domestic
abuses existed in any heritage.
Do you know what I mean?
Not really, post10:25, I rarely
read anything about Asians
Pedophiles on the Net, mostly
Westerners.
Accordingly, if it is a uniformily
worldwide problem, then it suggest
that we (asians) have overcome the
issue with our current manner and
not westerners. Does that make
sense?
12:10 I am not sure. I am not talking about Khmer people in comparison to Western people but rather Asian and Western people. I know for a fact that pedophilia, for instance, exists in Thailand and Japan. It also exists in the Arab world. I am not sure whether it's on the net but this may be because Westerners use mostly English for their websites and therefore it is more easily found. But whatever the case, it is a disease of the mind, no doubt.
Yes, you maybe right about
Thailand because there are all
sorts of weirdoes there. Japan,
I am not sure, but Arab is highly
unlikely. Arab culture takes their
religion very seriously. The
HIV/AIDS rating for arabian is
typically 5-10+ times LESS than
those of the US.
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