Sex Trade Continues Despite Laws: Group

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
28 October 2009

The sex trade continues to thrive in Cambodia, despite an anti-trafficking law and crackdowns on brothels, an advocate for a leading foundation says.

“The brothels have closed, but the brothel owners won’t be defeated, said Vann Sina, a monitor for the anti-trafficking Mam Somaly Foundation. “It means that they’ve changed into something else, but are still in the sex trade. They’ve changed from brothels to guesthouses, small grocery stores, small karaoke parlors, cafes, massage clubs, restaurants, and sex businesses along the parks. As I said, it’s almost everywhere.”

The foundation was started by Mam Somaly, who herself escaped the sex trade and has become an award-winning advocate protecting young women and girls. Vann Sina gave a talk in Washington last week, in talks sponsored by Free the Slaves, a US non-profit group.

While some brothels have gone underground, Vann Sina said, others remain, with girls as young as five years old serving clients.

Vann Sina, too, was a victim of sex trafficking, brought from Vietnam to Cambodia at age 13, her virginity sold to a Westerner. She suffered druggings and constant abuse when she refused to serve clients until she was rescued by Afesip, another organization run by Mam Somaly, where she became staff.

She urged Cambodia police and other authorities to strengthen their laws and work to end the trade.

“The laws may be ineffective or they may not be implemented well,” said Betsy Bramon, of Free the Slaves, which is based in Washington. “Maybe the system is very corrupt, and that is a very serious problem in Cambodia.”

Law enforcement officials in Cambodia say the Ministry of Interior and local authorities have greatly reduced human trafficking.

Cambodian police have never tolerated any trafficking of women and children, which contradicts the dignity of Cambodian culture, said police spokesman Kirt Chantharith.

“Anyone who knows about the activities related to the women and children trafficking or any other crimes, please report to our police,” he said. “We have two lines for phone calls. You can call free via 117 and 118.”

Sources are confidential, he said.

In Kampong Speu, a Familiar Tale of Trafficking [... and corruption]

Suon Kanika, VOA Khmer
Original report from Kampong Speu
05 November 2007

SK was a young girl when a 30-year-old woman convinced her to travel out of her home province to look for work. But, after she'd lost her mother's jewelry as payment for the trip, SK was sold into Phnom Penh's sex trade.

SK, who asked that her name not be used, became part of Cambodia's vibrant sex industry, forced to take drugs and "perform services for guests" of a karaoke parlor.

She would take little pink pills and see up to four men each night and only escaped by jumping out a window and calling her father to come and get her.

Now 15, SK is safe at home in Kampong Speu, but her family is filing suit with provincial authorities to bring her abductors to justice and appealing to the government to do more to stop trafficking.

"I lived at that karaoke place for 26 days," SK told VOA Khmer recently. "I was miserable, and I was ashamed. I wanted to commit suicide.... I now think my life has no value, and no future. I think it is my bad karma."

Human trafficking in sex and labor continues to plague Cambodia. SK's story highlights an industry that new laws have so far been able to eradicate. Young girls from the provinces still fall prey to recruiters, who promise legitimate work to the naive and desperate and have little fear of the law.

"We have to solve the issue legally," Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho, told VOA Khmer. "The perpetrators will have to be charged. When the police, the courts arrest them and then free them, claiming lack of evidence, it is wrong. The perpetrators must be punished according to the law."

Many victims of sex trafficking report similar hopelessness, and they often blame themselves or feel their lives are irreparably damaged. But Kek Galabru said women like SK are victims and must be helped.

"We must not think she did something wrong or has bad karma," she said. "They did something illegal to her and violated her rights."

SK said the owner boasted to clients that she was "new," worth $50 per session.

"I have a request, especially to Prime Minister Hun Sen," SK's father said. "Please help us. If we go to the police, the police just take money and don't work for us. If we go to the court, the court just takes the money and doesn't work for us. When we ask, they say, 'tomorrow,' then 'the day after tomorrow.'"

This had left him feeling hopeless as well, the father said.

"The perpetrators are walking with their hands dangling, complacent, and not afraid at all," he said. "I would like justice for my child, who is a victim, to pay for her compensation and have them punished according to existing law."

SK's lawyer, Heng Poung, said he phoned Kampong Speu's deputy prosecutor, Ou Phat, who claimed charges have been filed with the provincial court.

He expected the sex traffickers to be brought before a judge, Heng Poung said.

The law on human trafficking now says that such perpetrators—anyone who coerces, tricks, or cajoles another person into the sex trade of other forced labor—can face up to 15 years in prison.

Report: Demand for virgins brings girls into Cambodian sex trade at young age

Friday, September 14, 2007
The Associated Press

"Thirty-eight percent of the women and girls interviewed had their virginity sold, and they collected an average of US$482 (€347), the report said. In most cases middlemen pocketed sizable amounts from the deals" - Eleanor Brown, author of a report on sexual exploitation in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The strong demand for young virgin girls from men who patronize prostitutes in Cambodia fuels the entry of underage women into the commercial sex trade, a humanitarian group said in a report Friday.

More than one-third of female sex workers surveyed for the report by the International Organization for Migration said they entered the sector through the sale of their virginity.

"Like other Asian men, they (Cambodian men) have a strong cultural desire for virginity," said Eleanor Brown, author of a report on sexual exploitation in Cambodia.

Some Asian cultures believe that sleeping with young virgins helps preserve virility and vitality.

The report said 203 women and girls working in brothels and places like nightclubs and bars were interviewed in depth for the study.

The average age of girls who sold their virginity was 16-17 years old, it said.

Though some girls sold their virginity voluntarily, many were tricked into the trade by friends and relatives or were forced by poverty and domestic violence into it, the report said.

"While in the majority of instances this trade appears to be voluntary for women and girls selling their virginity, there was a high use of force and incapacitation through drugs or alcohol at the time of commercial sex," it said.

It said 18 percent of women and girls were incapacitated in some way, with up to 10 percent being completely unconscious.

The findings indicated that Cambodian men, who accounted for 49 percent of the market for virgins, are the primary customers for commercial sex trafficking, especially the trade in virgins, the report said. Other Asian clients were Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans, Taiwanese, Thais and Filipinos, it said.

Westerners accounted for 9 percent, it said.

The study was conducted in Siam Reap and Koh Kong provinces and in the city of Sihanoukville, which are trafficking "hot spots" in northwestern and southwestern Cambodia mainly because of their links with tourism and foreign-led demand, IOM said.

Thirty-eight percent of the women and girls interviewed had their virginity sold, and they collected an average of US$482 (€347), the report said. In most cases middlemen pocketed sizable amounts from the deals, Brown said.

Trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is widespread in Cambodia, which has weak law enforcement. In recent years, authorities have stepped up efforts to crack down on sex offenders, but have focused on Westerners who prey on children.

Children for sale (Dateline NBC 2004 Original report)

Click on the photo to view Dateline video
2004: Dateline's Chris Hansen reports on the illegal sex industry that victimizes Cambodian children, and the efforts to stop it.