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Cambodia’s Thriving Child
Prostitution Industry
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The involvement of high-ranking officials has been one reasons, NGOs say,
that the sex industry has thrived in Cambodia.
“Very often these brothels and criminal networks are being supported
and protected by high ranking officials,” Mark Capaldi, from Ecpat
International, an orgnaisation working to eliminate child prostitution, said.
“The problem is not just as abusers but also the impunity and lack of
law enforcement in closing down these brothels and karaoke bars.”
Daniela Reale, an advisor from Save the Children, told Al Jazeera:
“The reality is that we do know local demand is the force driving this
abuse.
“We also know it is around 70 per cent of local demand rather than
sex tourism.”
But General Bith Kim Hong, from the Cambodian national police force, rejected
allegations that the officials focused their efforts to curb prostitution
almost exclusively on foreigners.
“The national police are concerned about anyone who commits a crime,
who has sex with children, whether they are foreigners or Cambodian,” he
told Al Jazeera.
“We have a very high commitment to prevent child prostitution.”
Few arrests
Last year, the Cambodian police arrested only 21 people for committing sex
crimes with children – eight of those arrested were foreigners and 13 were
Cambodians.
The police also admit that the brothels they shut down in high-profile
raids often reopen a few weeks later.
In 2002, Gary Glitter, the British pop star, was expelled from Cambodia
amid child-sex allegations.
But while the arrest and conviction of foreigners make the headlines, most
child sex trafficking supplies local demand, Mu Sochua said.
“It is easier to catch a foreigner and also the government wants to
have showcases to make itself look good – that Cambodia is actually taking
care of this problem of human trafficking, which is really not the
truth,” she told Al Jazeera.
Reale said that governments need to combat the worldwide problem:
“They need to address their legal system and their law
enforcement.”
To tackle the poverty that forces girls into prostitution, Reale said
that governments must provide support systems to help families match their
needs.
She said that the 3rd World Conference on Sexual Exploitation of Children
in Rio de Janeiro next month will be as a big opportunity to make real and genuine
committments.
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Girls as young as 14 work in brothels’ around Thousands of children are bought and sold for sex every day in
Al Jazeera filmed secretly at several brothels, and in each case found “For my virginity they gave me $200,” Ya Da, a 16-year-old Ya Da worked in a brothel for two years before she ran away. Now, she “There were just a few foreign customers [at the brothel],” she ‘Local customers’ Mu Sochua, a politician with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party and a former
“And some of these local
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