Human trafficking in Cambodia

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Cambodia is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking. The traffickers are reportedly organized crime syndicates, parents, relatives, friends, intimate partners, and neighbors./ [1] Despite human trafficking being a crime in Cambodia, [2] the country has a significant child sex tourism problem; [2] [3] [4] [5] some children are sold by their parents, while others are lured by what they think are legitimate job offers like waitressing, but then are forced into prostitution. Children are often held captive, beaten, and starved to force them into prostitution.

Contents

In 2022, the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report downgraded Cambodia to "Tier 3" due to the Cambodian government's failure to meet the minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking and insufficient effort to address human trafficking. [6] Cambodia had previously hovered between Tier 2 and the Tier 2 watch lists. [1] [7]

Survey

A UNICEF survey concluded that 35% of Cambodia's 15,000 prostitutes are children under the age of 16. Almost all of Cambodian brothels are Vietnamese-owned, with most of its prostitutes being of Vietnamese descent and captured sex slaves being of other ethnic groups. Men are trafficked for forced labor in the agriculture, fishing, and construction industries. Women are trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor in factories or as domestic servants. Children are trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor in organized begging rings, soliciting, and street vending. [1]

Common destinations for trafficking victims are Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville. [8]

Conditions

Pimps are reported to imprison young children who are virgins. These children would not be placed to work until they had been presented to a series of bidders, such as high-ranking military officers, politicians, businessmen, and foreign tourists. Young girls working in brothels are in effect, sex slaves; they receive no money, only food, and armed guards stop them from running away. [9] Children are often held captive, beaten, and starved to force them into prostitution. [2]

Cases

In 1995, a 15-year-old child that was trafficked into prostitution in a brothel in the Svay Por district of Battambang was beaten to death. [10]

Child sex trafficking

Children as young as 3 are being sold as slaves for sex. [2] By some estimates, hundreds of thousands of children are bought, sold, or kidnapped around the world each year and then forced to have sex. [2] ECPAT Cambodia reports that as many as one third of the trafficking victims in prostitution are children. [11]

Foreign child molesters

The MOI reported the arrest of 31 foreign child molesters in Cambodia in 2009. [12]

Forced to Fraud

There are significant reports on human trafficking on forced to fraud in Cambodia. Victims are forced to fraud the Internet users worldwide. If they don't want to fraud, they are risk to organ harvesting. [13] [14]

Laws

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.

In 2008, the Government introduced the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, which criminalizes all forms of trafficking. However, the country remained a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. Children were trafficked domestically for sexual exploitation. [12]

Cambodia is party to several international covenants prohibiting the trafficking of persons and the exploitation of women and children. [8]

Cambodia has continued to assist U.S. law enforcement authorities in the transfer to U.S. custody of Americans who have sexually exploited children in Cambodia. [1]

Anti-Human Trafficking Day

December 12 is observed as National Anti-Human Trafficking Day in Cambodia. [8]

Non-governmental organizations

On the ground in Cambodia, a number of non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations are working to combat human trafficking. These include AFESIP, the Somaly Mam Foundation, Hagar International, ECPAT, [15] and Agape International Missions. [16] There are also other development partners that work together to fight against human trafficking. [17] [18] [19]

Overseas cyber slaves

Overseas job scams are rampant in Cambodia. People are lured in by offers of a high-paying job with little to no experience or work visa needed, then held hostage under threats of violence and forced to work as "cyber slaves" in call centers making scam phone calls and other cryptocurrency and online gambling schemes. Citizens from Vietnam and Chinese-speaking countries are most frequently targeted. [20] [21] People are tortured and may be sold if they refused to scam others. [22]

On 17 August 2022, 42 Vietnamese victims escaped from the Golden Phoenix casino near the Chrey Thom border checkpoint by swimming across the Binh Di River. Among them, a 16-year-old boy drowned crossing the river. On 17 September 2022, a group of 60 Vietnamese people fled from a casino in Bavet city in Svay Rieng province. Cambodian police later managed to rescue 15 more Vietnamese nationals. [23]

Related Research Articles

Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child prostitution</span> Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial sexual exploitation of children</span> Commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child, or person under the age of consent. CSEC involves a range of abuses, including but not limited to: the prostitution of children, child pornography, stripping, erotic massage, phone sex lines, internet-based exploitation, and early forced marriage.

Prostitution in Russia is illegal. The punishment for engagement in prostitution is a fine from 1500 up to 2000 rubles. Moreover, organizing prostitution is punishable by a prison term. Prostitution remains a very serious social issue in Russia.

Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.How many women live through this type of abuse every day remains unknown.

Prostitution in Colombia is legal, regulated and limited to brothels in designated "tolerance zones". Sex workers are required to have regular health checks. However, the laws are rarely applied and prostitution is widespread, partly due to poverty and internal displacement.

Prostitution in Paraguay is legal for persons over the age of 18, but related activities such as brothel keeping are prohibited. Prostitution is common in the country. Brothels are also common, even some rural villages have a small bar/brothel on the outskirts.

Prostitution in Malaysia is restricted in all states despite it being widespread in the country. Related activities such as soliciting and brothels are illegal. In the two states of Terengganu and Kelantan, Muslims convicted of prostitution may be punishable with public caning.

Prostitution in Suriname is illegal but widespread and the laws are rarely enforced. Human trafficking and Child prostitution are problems in the country. Prostitutes are known locally as "motyo". UNAIDS estimate there to be 2,228 prostitutes in the country.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children's are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. The greatest threat of trafficking facing Indonesian men and women is that posed by conditions of forced labor and debt bondage in more developed Asian countries and the Middle East.

Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal, but prevalent. A 2008 Cambodian Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation has proven controversial, with international concerns regarding human rights abuses resulting from it, such as outlined in the 2010 Human Rights Watch report.

Transnational efforts to prevent human trafficking are being made to prevent human trafficking in specific countries and around the world.

Belgium is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Victims originate in Eastern Europe, Africa, East Asia, as well as Brazil and India. Some victims are smuggled through Belgium to other European countries, where they are subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. Male victims are subjected to forced labor and exploitation in restaurants, bars, sweatshops, horticulture sites, fruit farms, construction sites, and retail shops. There were reportedly seven Belgian women subjected to forced prostitution in Luxembourg in 2009. According to a 2009 ECPAT Report, the majority of girls and children subjected to forced prostitution in Belgium originate from Balkan and CIS countries, Eastern Europe, Asia and West Africa ; some young foreign boys are exploited in prostitution in major cities in the country. Local observers also report that a large portion of children trafficked in Belgium are unaccompanied, vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees. Criminal organizations from Thailand use Thai massage parlors in Belgium, which are run by Belgian managers, to sexually exploit young Thai women. These networks are involved in human smuggling and trafficking to exploit victims economically and sexually. Belgium is not only a destination country, but also a transit country for children to be transported to other European country destinations.

Human trafficking in the Ivory Coast refers to the practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation which uses Côte d'Ivoire a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who are trafficked for these purposes. Trafficking within the country's borders is more prevalent, with victims primarily trafficked from the north of the country to the more economically prosperous south. Boys from Ghana, Mali, and Burkina Faso are subjected to forced labour in the agricultural sector, including on cocoa, coffee, pineapple, and rubber plantations; boys from Ghana are forced to labour in the mining sector; boys from Togo are forced to work in construction; and boys from Benin are forced to work in carpentry and construction. Girls recruited from Ghana, Togo, and Benin to work as domestic servants and street vendors often are subjected to conditions of forced labour. Women and girls are also recruited from Ghana and Nigeria to work as waitresses in restaurants and bars and are subsequently subjected to forced prostitution. Trafficked children often face harsh treatment and extreme working conditions.

Victims of human trafficking in Ecuador are generally women and children trafficked within the country from border and central highland areas to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as for involuntary domestic servitude, forced begging, and forced labor in mines and other hazardous work. Ecuador prohibits human trafficking in its penal code, and penalties are commensurate with other serious crimes. Despite robust law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking, conviction rates remain low. The Ecuadorian government has ensured trafficking victims' access to legal, medical, psychological, and shelter services, in large part through its partnership with a network of NGOs. The government has also undertaken advertising campaigns against human trafficking, particularly child labor and child sex tourism. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agape International Missions</span> American non-profit organisation

Agape International Missions (AIM) is a nonnonprofit, non-denominational, non-governmental organization working to rescue, heal and empower survivors of sex trafficking in Cambodia. It has staff in California and Southeast Asia and carries out housing, education, health, employment, rehabilitation, and community care initiatives in Cambodia. The AIM Apparel is a retail site that sells jewelry and other products made by survivors and supports the organization's initiatives. AIM received GuideStar USA, Inc.'s gold seal of transparency in 2019. Charity Navigator gave AIM the highest rating of 4 out of 4 stars and a score of 100 out of 100 for accountability & transparency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in the United States</span>

Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. China, the world's second-most populous country, has the second highest number of human trafficking victims in the world. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in Vietnam</span>

Sex trafficking in Vietnam is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam is a source and, to a lesser extent, destination country for sexually trafficked persons.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Cambodia". HumanTrafficking.org. 2005-05-06. Archived from the original on 2006-04-20. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Children for sale". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  3. ↑ Gittings, John (2000-11-16). "The tragic tale of the Cambodian child prostitutes". Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  4. ↑ Harding, Andrew (2005-06-11). "Trapping Cambodia's sex tourists". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Cambodia gets tough on child sex trade". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  6. ↑ "2022 Trafficking in Persons Report". US Department of State. July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  8. 1 2 3 "AFESIP Siem Reap Center held International Women's Day". AFESIP. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  9. ↑ "Asian Child Rights". Asian Human Rights Commission. Archived from the original on 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  10. ↑ "Cambodia". Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  11. ↑ CCPCR [ permanent dead link ](password-protected)
  12. 1 2 "US Department of State: Cambodia". Archived from the original on 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  13. ↑ "Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs". Archived from the original on 2021-09-01.
  14. ↑ "Meet Cambodia's cyber slaves". Archived from the original on 2022-08-11.
  15. ↑ "Somaly Mam Foundation". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  16. ↑ Steve Milne (May 9, 2011). "Area Couple Fighting Sex Slavery In Cambodia". Capital Public Radio. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
  17. ↑ "12 December 2009 is observed as National Anti-Human Trafficking Day in Cambodia !". Afesip.org. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  18. ↑ "Hagar Cambodia". Hagar International. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  19. ↑ "ECPAT Cambodia". Phnom Penh, Cambodia: ECPAT Cambodia. Archived from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Why are Malaysians falling for deadly job scams in Cambodia, and what is Putrajaya doing to prevent more victims?". 29 September 2022.
  21. ↑ "Cambodia scams: Lured and trapped into slavery in South East Asia". BBC News. 20 September 2022.
  22. ↑ "Inside the 'living hell' of Cambodia's scam operations". 9 November 2022.
  23. ↑ "60 Vietnamese nationals collectively run for freedom from human traffickers in Cambodia". 21 September 2022.
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