Thread: Child sex trade soars in Cambodia

Child sex trade soars in Cambodia
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
10:39 Mecca time, 07:39 GMT


Al Jazeera's investigation found underage girls working in brothel's around Phnom Penh

Girls as young as 14 work in brothels' around Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, and while the industry is often shown as serving predatory foreign tourists, local men have been found to be the mainstay of clients.

Thousands of children are bought and sold for sex every day in Cambodia an investigation by Al Jazeera found.

Al Jazeera filmed secretly at several brothels, and in each case found much the same thing - rooms full of young women in their early twenties, as well as teenagers.

"For my virginity they gave me $200," Ya Da, a 16-year-old former prostitute, said.

Ya Da worked in a brothel for two years before she ran away. Now, she lives in a safe house with other former prostitutes and abused children.

"There were just a few foreign customers [at the brothel]," she said. "I never slept with any, I slept only with Cambodian men."


'Local customers'

Mu Sochua, a politician with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party and a former minister for women's affairs, told Al Jazeera that most of Cambodia's sex industry was supported "by local customers".


In video
In video

Cambodia's trade in child prostitutes

"And some of these local customers are high-ranking officials. You have the military, the police and civil servants. you have rich businessmen who have lots of money," she said.

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.

english.aljazeera.net

Al Jazeera filmed secretly at several brothels, and in each case found much the same thing - rooms full of young women in their early twenties, as well as teenagers.

who the hell would go to a brothel with 45 to 60 year olds in. late teens to early twenties is fairly normal.

not that I am condoning this behavior, but does anyone know what the age of consent is in Cambodia?

would they understand what consent meant ?

^Not sure that they would - and in my case, with Aus law, doubt it would make any difference (as I would still likely be banged up as soon as I came back here). Just interested to see, as they say 70% of the trade is local, I wondered what the local morals/rules were. I.E., it looks bad to me, but would it still look bad to me if I were a local?

PHNOM PENH, Dec 18, 2000 - A US tourist has been charged with the rape and indecent assault of a child prostitute in Cambodia in a rare instance of the courts here showing a willingness to tackle such a case, officials said Monday.

A Phnom Penh court charged James Curtis Parks, 57, from Hawaii, with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in a hotel room, a charge he denied saying he was impotent and had been teaching meditation when police arrived.

"I am a good man. I came here to teach meditation, English and photography. I have been helping her," Parks, a freelance photographer, told reporters who visited his jail cell Monday where he can be held for up to six months pending trial. "How can I have sex with her? I have been unable to have an erection for seven years," he added.

However, police and court officials questioned why the pair were naked when the hotel room was raided on Wednesday last week. "We charged him with rape and indecent assault late Friday," said Phnom Penh's deputy municipal court prosecutor Ngeth Sarath. "I don't know if this is the first such case, but I don't remember any others, so it is quite rare," he said.

A Cambodian woman who allegedly acted as a pimp was also charged with debauchery. If convicted, Parks faces a maximum 10 years in jail, while the woman whose charge also relates to an offence of human trafficking faces 10 to 20 years. The case follows the sentencing in November of British teacher John Keeler, 55, to three years in a Cambodian jail for making a video of four girls ranging from eight to 10 years old lifting their dresses and fondling themselves.

Rights workers said they hoped that case marked a turning point in Cambodia, where lax laws and an unwillingness to disrupt tourism have seen the country develop a reputation as a haven for foreign paedophiles.

There is no legal age of consent defined in Cambodian law, but indecent or sexual assault is punishable by one to three years in
jail. That sentence is doubled if the person assaulted is under the age of 16, according to United Nations legal experts here.
Rape, although rarely prosecuted, is punishable by five to 10 years with no age issues involved. Rights groups and the UN's protection and monitoring unit here are currently trying to have minors defined as under the age of 18 in line with international conventions on the rights of children. Current legislation dates back to the early 1990s when Cambodia was administered by a UN transitional authority.

A leading child advocacy group said the court had initially been reluctant to charge Parks as the girl confessed to being a prostitute and had been paid 30 dollars for sex. "The court did not want to charge the man because they said the girl was not a virgin and had not been forced into sex. But under pressure from us they have at least charged him with rape and indecent assault," said Yim Po, chairman of the Cambodian centre for the protection of children's rights. He said the girl was now in the centre's care and would be taught some basic reading, writing and life skills and helped to find a job.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned in a speech last week that the country's efforts to attract foreign visitors ran the risk
of swamping traditional culture and increasing the likelihood of sex tourism.
DEBAUCHERY
Article 8:
Any person who commits debauchery acts onto a minor person of below 15 years old, even if there is consent from the concerned minor person or if upon buying such minor person from somebody else or from a head of the prostitutes, shall be subject to punishment from ten (10) to twenty (20) years in prison. In case of not giving up, the maximum punishment term shall be applied.
The court may, in addition to the above principal punishment, apply a sub-punishment by restriction of the civil rights and non-authorization of residence.
(source: Kram February 29, 1996 Exploitation of Human Persons)

I read some where that the figures were much the same in Thailand. As in the vast majority of the sex trade serviced Thais as adverse to foreigners.

Originally Posted by William

not that I am condoning this behavior, but does anyone know what the age of consent is in Cambodia?

I believe it is 15 or 16

Originally Posted by Mid

"For my virginity they gave me $200," Ya Da, a 16-year-old former prostitute, said.

not meaning to appear flippant or cavalier here but how many girls give up their virginity for nothing?? seems at least she received a fair value for her virtue given her environment....

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by William

not that I am condoning this behavior, but does anyone know what the age of consent is in Cambodia?

I believe it is 15 or 16

not according to the above report

There is no legal age of consent defined in Cambodian law,

Its a very grey area. Some places say 16
A table of worldwide ages of consent, including US states

Some say 15, like wikipedia if you believe their nonsense, others say there isnt an age of consent.

Originally Posted by DrivingForce

Originally Posted by Mid

"For my virginity they gave me $200," Ya Da, a 16-year-old former prostitute, said.

not meaning to appear flippant or cavalier here but how many girls give up their virginity for nothing?? seems at least she received a fair value for her virtue given her environment....

Yes....but would you really spend $200 for a virgin. That's like having a vigin bride, regardless of her age. Virgins are no fun.....

I really expect that the problem is only going to get worse and in particularly this region.

With all of the economic woes will come an increase in poverty and along with that the need for some parents to prostitute their children.

As horrible and heart breaking that may sound it is a reality that all governments should be looking at before bailing out all these millionaires sitting in their Irovy Towers.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by DrivingForce

Originally Posted by Mid

"For my virginity they gave me $200," Ya Da, a 16-year-old former prostitute, said.

not meaning to appear flippant or cavalier here but how many girls give up their virginity for nothing?? seems at least she received a fair value for her virtue given her environment....

Yes....but would you really spend $200 for a virgin. That's like having a vigin bride, regardless of her age. Virgins are no fun.....

I spent a helluva lot more than that................ it cost me at least 2 years of marriage and a load of headaches and money lost in the end. $200 dollars to have my fun and walk away sounds like a pretty good deal but we aren't talking about me and this is too young..

BTW it depends when the virginity is lost, too early or wrong circumstances and no it's not how it should be, otherwise right woman right timing a completely different experience..

So what should the age of consent be then?

Originally Posted by Jesus Jones

Completely sick. It's ok to critise these countries but people also need to sick a look at the sad sick bastards, normally from western countries that demand it.

If I understand you correctly, you are implying that it is westerners fueling the child sex trade in asia. On this I believe you are very, very wrong, and the "asian" market is by far and away larger than the western demand.

Even if consent is lower in these countries, it's still sick but unfortunately nothing can be done, it will always be there.

I think there was a movie-documentary out recently that was FAR more shocking than this news story. This story is kind of 'par' for this topic.

I think it was by a US filmmaker and it was shocking. I'll try to find a link.

If there is a demand, there will always be a supply. Both are at fault and no i'm not saying it is the fault of the west.

Originally Posted by Jesus Jones

If there is a demand, there will always be a supply. Both are at fault and no i'm not saying it is the fault of the west.

Noted on the west.

As an interesting point (re your comment on supply and demand), as noted earlier in the thread, the current economic problems are likley to see more parents selling their kids into prostitution. That actually tends to argue that its actually supply driven to an extent, rather than demand driven.

^sadly under the current economic issue that will happen of course.

And likewise the internet has increased demand for such things. So it's swings and roundabouts really.

Originally Posted by DrivingForce

Originally Posted by Mid

"For my virginity they gave me $200," Ya Da, a 16-year-old former prostitute, said.

not meaning to appear flippant or cavalier here but how many girls give up their virginity for nothing?? seems at least she received a fair value for her virtue given her environment....

Because of the Internet young girls are shagging like rabbits.

Porn is available at the click of a mouse, dam scary if your the father of a young teen.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Originally Posted by William

not that I am condoning this behavior, but does anyone know what the age of consent is in Cambodia?

I believe it is 15 or 16

8

...a 16-year-old former prostitute...

Jesus H. Christ on a Popsicle stick!

We are animals, doesn't matter how difficult we find to accept but it's the truth and always will be.

Fortunately, not all of us behave like animals and have some moral standards.