If you can read this article without shedding a single tear, you are no longer human being! What a shame for Cambodian men!!!

A cruel world

Editorial by Richard Cannavo
The Nouvel Obs (France)
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

"In Cambodia, it is well known that virginity is a business." - A police officer

Sold as children, as mere commodities, abused, raped, many small Cambodian end up in brothels before dying from AIDS.

“I sold my virginity for $500 to an old man to help my family: that was the only thing of value that we have.” In Cambodia, women have no say in this matter and even less when they are young adolescents. Mostly innocent and ignorant, the poorest of them are snatched from their peaceful countryside by either a relative, a friend or a neighbor under the false promise of a better life, some are kidnapped and drugged before being sold. "The person who betrayed me was a friend. I was to suppose to work in a restaurant for $145 a month. But, I was raped…" She is still dazed: “I called for help but nobody came. I was sold. The client could do anything he wanted with me.” Sometimes the evil deed comes from no other than their own mother: “I was in debt and I was trying to survive. I had to sell my daughter for $300 dollars. Now I'm sorry for her...” Very young girls are commodities like everything else, in this country where people seek to buy virginity because it is endowed with magic powers. “Men think that if they have sex with a virgin, it will whiten their skin and that they will be rejuvenated and will live longer.” “The police and the general public have no idea of what pedophilia is. There is no word in Khmer to describe this scourge!" the head of a NGO lamented. "In Cambodia, there is no equality of the sexes,” an old woman explained. “It is said that if a man misbehaves, he can wash himself off and become clean again. In contrast, women are like a white cloth: if they do something wrong, the fabric will be dirty for the rest of their lives... " Therefore, a girl who lost her virginity attracts dishonor to her family and becomes a pariah.

They are lovely little girls tortured from the inside and they are struggling to hold back their tears. At 13, Trem carries a sadness inside her that will never go away: “I worked for a year now. My rate depends on the number of sexual relationships I have. Sometimes they have mercy on me because I'm so young.” The men who agreed to talk in this remarkable film by Matthew Watson, displayed an incredible cynicism: “I paid $400 for her virginity for seven days of sex. When we made love for the first time she looked normal, she complained only of pain in her stomach.” “I do not know how much he paid for me. I just know that I stayed locked up with this man for a week, without the right to anything. I had to stay in that room and sleep with him. And even if I could not stop myself from crying, he still wanted to have my virginity.” Youngsters explained calmly, in front of the camera, that when they are in large number, if one of those unfortunate girls does not agree to satisfy them all, then they will be forced to use violence her... The threat of AIDS has further emphasized the search for virginity and it made this business so lucrative that the number of middlemen saw a proliferation: they are seen roaming the countryside in search for young girls. A NGO official explained: “A customer can afford a virgin girl for a week or a month, then he sells her to a brothel. We have many cases of girls who were purchased at 12 or 13 and they find themselves as prostitutes. Their life is over. Most of them end up catching AIDS, and have no future.” Testimonies from these young kids with empty eyes abound. They say, in a weary tone filld with resignation: “These men never think of their own daughters and sisters ...”; “I feel empty, worthless. I feel like I am a fish on sale at the market. There were about 700 men who had sex with me this year.” She sits on her bed, stiff, with her long black hair framing her empty eyes: “I know that if I die, it will not be from old age...”

This one girl looks like a child, but her beautiful face only shows an endless exhaustion. She is way beyond her crying stage when she said in her soft voice: “A man wanted to buy my virginity for $1,000, but I declined: I was hoping to keep it for my husband. Finally, it was stolen fro me... If I was born into a wealthy family, I would not do this kind of work, I might have a better future.” She is now crying in her hushed voice. In this country – one of the most corrupt in the world where the cops themselves abuse children – abductions, rapes, murders are on the rise. “One day I was raped by a gang: about 50 men at a time. I fainted three times. They said that they will rape me until I die...” “How to get rid of this scourge?” asked a dumbfounded NGO leader. “I suppose that we will need to change the heart of these men...” One has a hard time forgetting these sacrificed little girls who are devastated, whose dignity has been trampled… these little faces that are crumpled by tears to express their sadness and misery. It is not just the men that should change their heart, it is first and foremost about a cruel world.

Magazine. “Planet investigation: Cambodia Trade of Virginity" (Wednesday at 8:35PM, France Ô).