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Factbook on Global Sexual
Exploitation
Cambodia
Trafficking
Prostituted girls, most of
them aged 15 to18 years of age, are found in the Svay Pak red-light district of Cambodia.
Many girls are much younger. Most of them are smuggled in from Vietnam and all are bound
by contracts, which last from six months to over a year. Svay Pak has the largest number
of prostituted Vietnamese girls. ("The Street of Little Flowers," rewritten from
'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23 February
1997)
Many of the prostituted women and children in
Cambodia are from Vietnam. (Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child
Prostitution," Christian Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
Vietnamese girls are commonly brought to Phnom Penh, where they are concentrated in a
strip 15 km north of the city in an area known as Svay Pak. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale:
The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Methods and Techniques of
Traffickers
Unofficial estimates say that there are as many as 15,000
prostituted persons in Phnom Penh, and that up to 35% of them have been smuggled into
Cambodia from China or Vietman, mostly from the southwestern provinces of Vietnam (Long
An, An Giang, Song Be, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City). Brothel
owners pay traffickers from US$350 to $450 (8,750 to 11,250 baht) for each attractive
Vietnamese virgin 16 years or younger. Non-virgins and those considered less beautiful are
sold from $150 to $170 each (3,750 to 4,250 baht). ("Children of the dust,"
rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post,
23 February 1997)
Girls bound by contacts to a brother owner have their debt to the
brothel owner subtracted from the number of customers serviced. It may take from six
months to a year or more to work off this debt. The fees that have been paid to their
families, trafficking agents, and border guards compound the total debt. Once all debts
are paid off, the prostituted person makes from $2 to $3 [50 to 75 baht] per customer,
this is after the brother owner has taken their own cut. ("The Street of Little
Flowers," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok
Post, 23 February 1997)
Virgins, who have been sold to brothels by trafficking agents,
are confined to the brothel or a hotel room until the first client comes. Due to the
belief that sex with a virgin has rejuvenating properties, her first client is charged an
expensive amount. Advertised as "special commodities," virgins are also
attractive in that they are less likely to have AIDS or other sexually transmitted
diseases. The customer pays from $300 to $400 (7,500 to 10,000 baht) to have sex with her
for one week in a local hotel chosen by the brothel owner. ("Children of the
dust," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok
Post, 23 February 1997)
When recruited by brokers in a village, the girls' families are told they will be
employed and be able to send money home. After the girls are purchased, usually for about
$150, they are brought to a hotel room or safe house where they are kept until they can be
sold to their first buyer for $300 to $400 for a week. But after this, the girl is
considered "used goods" and her value drops dramatically to as little as $2 per
sexual transaction. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa
Sun, 24 October 1996)
The enslaved girls must stay until their debt to their purchasers is paid off, or face
beatings. This is difficult, if not impossible, since the owners consider the girls
indebted to to them for their constantly mounting expenses for food, clothing, medical
costs and abortions. As a result, a brothel owner will hold a girl prisoner until she
becomes too old or too ill to attract customers. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The
Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
A trafficking network, operating under
protection from local authorities, was discovered by human rights workers in Cambodia. For
at least two years in Koh Kong province the network trafficked hundreds of children a
month into Trat province, Thailand. The children are sold for $70 each. Some children were
drugged and forced into prostitution. Other children who were sent to work on fishing
boats were often arbitrarily tossed overboard to drown. ("Child slavery ring
uncovered in Cambodia," Associated Foreign Press, 19 December 1997)
Policy and Law
A law was passed in January 1997 to curb trafficking in women, with fines of up to
$12,000 and prison sentences of up to 20 years for pimps and brothel owners. No arrests
have yet been made. (Debra Boyce, "Rescued Prostitutes Present Theatre of Life,"
The World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, 30 July 1997)
Following the beating death of a 15-year-old girl
in a brothel in the Svay Por district of Battambang on September 21, 1995, local and
provincial police conducted a series of raids in the area. 26 brothels were searched and
236 prostituted women detained, along with 34 persons operating the brothels. 62 girls
were under 18 and 75 said they were either sold or forced into the business. 40 of those
forced into prostitution against their will were minors. Nearly all of the underage girls
were afraid of the brothel owners and refused to press charges. Consequently, 11 of the 34
brothel employees were released without charge. However, 12 were released on bail, charged
with trafficking of underage minors for prostitution and illegal detainmen. ("The
Street of Little Flowers," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and
NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23 February 1997)
Official Collaboration and
Corruption
Many politicians and their networks are involved in the trafficking business -
indirectly or directly. (Kritaya Archavanitkul of the Institute for Population and Social
Research at Mahidol University, Cameron W. Barr, "Asia Traffickers Keep Girls in
Sexual Servitude, Criminal groups deceive and lure poor villagers," Christian
Science Monitor, 22 August 1997)
The governor if Kok Kong Province recently banned human rights investigators who raided
a trafficking ring without his permission. Cambodia’s National Assembly called for
the governor to resign, as he is suspected of supporting brothel rings there. Some
traffickers are protected at high governmental levels. (Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps
Help Clean Up Child Prostitution," Christian Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
Cases
45 kidnapped women and children were freed after a raid on a trafficking ring in Kok
Kong Province, Cambodia. (Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child
Prostitution," Christian Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
One trafficker, Chay Heang, arrested by police in Sihanoukville had 14 Cambodian women
and children who were to be trafficked to Thailand for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Police say Heang is a minor criminal; he is connected to Chea Sarith an alleged major
trafficker who lives in Koh Kong Province near the Thai border. (Chris Seper, "Police
Sweeps Help Clean Up Child Prostitution," Christian Science Monitor, 8 January
1998)
In one village in Chiang Rai, families sold 61 daughters, most between 13 or 14 years
old, into prostitution, for about $480 each, an advance of her "future
earnings". At least 13 of the women were sent to brothels in Japan, or along the
Thai/Malaysia border. Some of the girls have already contracted AIDS and died. The girls
spend months and years enslaved to pay off the advance given to their parents. (7 year
study, beginning mid1980s, Cameron W. Barr, "Asia Traffickers Keep Girls in Sexual
Servitude, Criminal groups deceive and lure poor villagers," Christian Science
Monitor, 22 August 1997 )
Prostitution
Researchers found 87% of young men were having sex
with their girlfriends or prostitutes; 10% were having sex with other males. (Laura Bobak,
"For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia, Facts and Figures," Ottawa Sun, 24
October 1996)
There are 10,000 to 20,000 women and children in prostitution in Phnom Penh, a city of
1 million. Massage parlors and karaoke bars are frequently fronts for prostitution rings.
(Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child Prostitution," Christian
Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
Prostitution has become a "fixture of urban life" in Cambodia. (Laura Bobak,
"For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Tuol Kok district is Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s most well-known light district.
(Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child Prostitution," Christian
Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
In 1992, the average age of prostituted persons was 18. This
dropped to 15 years by April 1993, and a follow-up study in February 1994 suggested that
35% of the persons engaged in prostitution were under the age of 18, according to the
Cambodian Women's Development Association (CWDA). By March 1995, minors (aged 12 to 17
years old) comprised nearly 31% of prostituted persons in Phnom Penh and 11 other
provinces, according to a survey conducted by the Human Rights Vigilance of Cambodia.
("Children of the dust," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM
and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23 February 1997)
35% of prostitutes in Cambodia are under the age of 18. (Tim Seaman, of the human
rights organisation Licadho, Debra Boyce, "Rescued Prostitutes Present Theatre of
Life," The World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, 30
July 1997)
The Philippines and Sri Lanka are favorite destinations for men seeking to have
intercourse with young boys. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of
Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
There is a lower demand for boy prostitutes in Cambodia, sometimes an older boy will
obtain youngsters for foreign customers, while other boys are independent. (Laura Bobak,
"For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Many young prostituted boys live on the streets and at night wait for the male buyers
who will pay $2 to $5 for sex. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of
Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Children as young as four have been sold into the sex industry in Cambodia. (EPCAT,
Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24
October 1996)
Minors, some as young as seven, constitute more than 25% of the prostitutes in
Cambodia’s sex industry, (Joe Cochrane, "Child’s tragedy raises profile of
rights march," South China Morning Post, 2 February 1998)
Prostitution was outlawed in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 during
the rule of the Khmer Rouge, but it resurfaced in the 1980s and peaked between 1991 and
1993 during the UNTAC years when many of the 22,000 UN personnel stationed in Cambodia
frequented the nation's numerous brothels. ("Children of the dust," rewritten
from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23
February 1997)
The UN soldiers presence in Cambodia caused the number of prostitutes to rise to an
estimated 20,000 at the peak. After their departure, the number dropped to 10,000 to
15,000. (UNICEF report, Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa
Sun, 24 October 1996)
The local industry for sexually exploited children is exploding for two reasons: Many
Khmer -- and other Asian men -- believe sex with a virgin will renew their vigor and
youth, and the fear of contracting HIV is fuelling a demand for younger and younger
virgins. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun,
24 October 1996)
A study of more than 6,000 prostituted girls found that one-third of prostitutes in
Phnom Penh and Battanbang were between the age of 12 and 17. (Human Rights Vigilance of
Cambodia, Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun,
24 October 1996)
Prostitution
Tourism
Partially as a result of the publicity of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Thailand,
Cambodia, India and the Dominican Republic have emerged as new travel destinations for
pedophiles in the 1990s. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa
Sun, 24 October 1996)
Health and Well-being
Cambodia's flourishing sex industry had its beginning in the early 1990s, when tens of
thousands of UN "blue helmet" peacekeepers and civilian administrators descended
here in an operation known as UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia),
which was designed to end a long-running civil war and pave the way for multiparty
elections. On election day last month, when Prime Minister Hun Sen was asked what would be
UNTAC's legacy, he replied: "AIDS." (Keith B. Richburg," Spreading HIV
Threatens Cambodia Government Hard Pressed to Respond," Washington Post Foreign
Service, Sunday, August 9, 1998)
Visiting prostitutes has become a common and accepted male pastime in Cambodia. As a
result men have become the vectors for AIDS. (Keith B. Richburg, "Spreading HIV
Threatens Cambodia Government Hard Pressed to Respond," Washington Post Foreign
Service, Sunday, August 9, 1998)
40-50% the prostitutes in Cambodian are HIV positive. (Ministry
of Health, Debra Boyce, "Rescued Prostitutes Present Theatre of Life," The World
Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, 30 July 1997)
60% of the young prostitutes interviewed in Cambodia in June 1995 were infected with
everything from sores and warts to gonorrhea. (Youth With A Mission, Laura Bobak,
"For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
Prostitutes have HIV infection rates of at least 40%, but the figure could be much
higher. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun,
24 October 1996)
Prostituted girls endure miserable conditions and abuse, including beatings, cramped
quarters, inadequate food and sleep, and little to no protection against sexually
transmitted diseases. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia,"
Ottawa Sun, 24 October 1996)
The effect of prostitution on children and their
families is addressed in a Situation Report released by Unicef's Cambodia office.
"There is little detailed research on the personal trauma of child prostitutes as a
result of their situation and the effects of their situation on their relationships with
their families. The personal trauma and the loss of self-esteem to a child prostitute
brought about by constant degradation is difficult to imagine," the report said.
("The Street of Little Flowers," rewritten from 'Children of the Dust,' by MIKEL
FLAMM and NGO KIM CUC, Bangkok Post, 23 February 1997)
Cases
Ohn, a prostituted boy, said about half of the male buyers are foreigners and half are
locals. He prefers the foreign customers because they pay more -- the most he ever
received was $15. (Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa
Sun, 24 October 1996)
In 1994 Sophak, a 16 year old girl from Cambodia was sold into
prostitution to the owner of a nightclub in Battambang City by her mother, who suffered a
"losing streak" during her compulsive gambling. She was raped by the owner and
others and then escaped. She returned to her home, but fled, fearing she would be resold.
(Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24
October 1996)
In May 1997, Makara was sold to a brothel in Tuol Kork for about $200 by a broker in
her hometown in Kompong Cham, 200 km northeast of Phnom Penh. Makara's virginity was
purchased by a man who bought her on contract. The contract made her his exclusive sex
slave for a period of a month. He abused her so brutally that she ran away. Her current
brothel owner paid off her $200 debt to the first brothel then bought her, and now she is
indebted to them. Her male buyers, on average 7 each night, pay $2 for intercourse. (Laura
Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24 October
1996)
A Cambodian girl, who awoke in a brothel in Phnom Penh, said that her aunt drugged her
into unconsciousness and sold her to a brothel owner. When she refused to service male
buyers she was drugged again, taken to a hotel and raped by several men. (Cameron W. Barr,
"Asia Traffickers Keep Girls in Sexual Servitude, Criminal groups deceive and lure
poor villagers," Christian Science Monitor, 22 August 1997)
A lieutenant in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces is one brothel owner. He claims to
enslave the girls because he cannot make enough money in his job in the Armed Forces.
(Laura Bobak, "For Sale: The Innocence of Cambodia," Ottawa Sun, 24
October 1996)
Meas, a 16-year-old orphan from Vietnam, was sold to a brothel in Phnom Penh by her
neighbor for $400. She was starved and beaten until she complied to having sex with eight
men a day. When she was found by police, they took her life savings 30,000 riel, roughly
US$8.50. (Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child Prostitution," Christian
Science Monitor, 8 January 1998)
Offical
Response and Action
Police raided 40 brothels, including one where a pimp murdered a young girl. 232
prostituted girls in the Saem brothel were aged 14 to 20. (Debra Boyce, "Rescued
Prostitutes Present Theatre of Life," The World Congress Against the Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children, 30 July 1997)
In a two-month period in 1997, there were more than 500 prostituted women and girls
rescued and 20 traffickers arrested. (Chris Seper, "Police Sweeps Help Clean Up Child
Prostitution," Christian Science Monitor 8 January 1998)
Pornography
Official Response
and Action
Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, has ordered cable television providers to stop broadcasting
pornography saying that it undermined government's efforts to fight AIDS. (Henry Tang, BBC
London, 5 December 1997)
80% of drawings in the Cambodian media, which feature women, are obscene. More than 50%
of the drawings depict women as sex objects. In contrast, women are the subjects of only
7% of stories. In one newspaper, Koh Santepheap (Island of Peace), more than half of the
stories about women included pornographic serials. (Research findings, Women’s Media
Center of Cambodia, AFP, 19 February 1998)
Factbook Table of Contents
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Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation
Donna M. Hughes, Laura Joy Sporcic, Nadine Z. Mendelsohn and Vanessa Chirgwin
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