ecpat

The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 563

“According to a report based on a joint statistical research of organizations on sex exploitation from 2005 to 2006 received from 25 non-government organizations, in the period of two years there were 518 cases of sex exploitation of women and girls, and 179 of all women were considered to be sexually exploited victims.

“The Report showed that almost 70% of the women and children involved in sex exploitation are Khmers, 28% are Vietnamese, and 2% are Chinese; and among all the nationals with sexually exploited persons, 81% are Khmers, and 19% are Vietnamese, but there are no Chinese involved in this case.

“The report was organized by ECPAT International, and presented on 4 May 2008 in a workshop of anti-human trafficking groups’ working on the national level, meeting at the Sunway Hotel.

“The report added that the decline of sex trafficking victims rescued by many organizations is not a sign of the change of trafficking in Cambodia, but it is the result of the reduction of services of such organizations.

“According to the statistics of the Ministry of Planning, 6.4% of the children countrywide under the age of 18 lost their fathers, and 1.7% lost their mothers. Their destinations of human trafficking are Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Koh Kong; and more than 20% of human trafficking is targeted to neighboring countries, mostly Malaysia and Thailand. Talking about Vietnamese, they were trafficked from Vietnam to Phnom Penh, but it is not sure yet whether they are originally from outside of Cambodia or not.

“Sex trafficking is classified into four main groups depending on age groups; the first group includes trafficking of girls under the age of 18 who were forced and deceived to do sex work, the second group includes trafficking of girls under the age of 18 who voluntarily do sex work, the third group includes trafficking of women over the age of 18 who were forced and deceived to do sex work, and the fourth group include trafficking of women over the age of 18 who voluntarily do sex work.

“Some girls under the age of 18 explained their situation by referring to losing their parents, because their parents left them, or because they divorced, or there were problems in their families such as debt and poverty. These were the reasons that made them leave their hometowns to find jobs; most of them were abducted and were sexually abused.

“Police rescued the persons in almost two thirds of all cases, then they were followed up by social affairs’ officials and non-government organizations. But what is interesting is that police were not the leading agency to send victims to rehabilitation centers, although they rescued most of them, and on the other side, non government organizations were the leading agencies to send the victimized to the centers; then their cases were followed by the police and by social affair’s officials.

“According to the data collected, most of the women and girls returned to do their previous jobs as sex workers, and few of them used the skills they had learned in the rehabilitation centers to secure their living differently.

“40 of the 117 cases reported to police led to investigations to find suspects from 2005 to 2006; and almost 83% of the investigations led to the lodging of complaints against the suspects for both the accusations of trafficking and of rape.

“80.8% of child trafficking investigations led to the arrests of the suspects, but compared to the cases of adult women, there were only 57.1% such cases leading to arrests.” Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6364, 6.6.2008

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 6 June 2008

Cambodge Soir, Vol.1, #35, 5-11.6.2008

• Child Labor Remains Serious Problem, but the Situation Is More Secretive than before

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1658, 6.6.2008

• Today’s World Environmental Day Is Held under the Topic “Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy”
• Phnom Penh Is Facing a Serious Shortage of School Buildings [according to Mr. Om Kham Khuon, director of the Department of Education, Youth, and Sport of Phnom Penh]

Khmer Amatak, Vol.9, #588, 6.6.2008

• It Is a Shame that the Cambodian People’s Party Does Not Have the Courage to Participate in the Anniversary of the Loss of Kampuchea Krom Land
• While Hun Sen Boasts about a Two Digits [economic] Growth, the World Bank Says 55% of Khmers Do Not Gain Benefits

Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.2, #170, 6.6.2008

• [The Minister of Economy and Finance] Keat Chhon Summoned Fuel Companies to Discuss the Price of Fuel in Cambodia Which Is Higher than in Neighboring Countries [according to Secretary of Sate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance Mr. Chea Pengleag, who attended the nearly-two-hour meeting on 4 June 2008]
• [Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian] Ho Van: the Distribution of Voter’s Information Cards Is Very Unfair in Phnom Penh [because the National Election Committee only selects commune councilors of the Cambodian People’s Party]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6364, 6.6.2008

• While Khiev Samphan’s Illness Gets Worse, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Brought Him Back into Detention
• Cambodia [improved and] Ranked in 2nd Tier in the US Report on Human Trafficking in 2008
• The National Election Committee Shows that there Are 8,125,529 Voters

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3479, 6.6.2008

• Sar Kheng Dares Not to Explain the Problem that Cambodia Does Not Respect Minimum Standards in Curbing Human Trafficking

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4608, 6.6.2008

• [Two] Experts of the US Senate Come to Study the [Cambodian] Oil Industry
• The UN Provides US$1.2 Billion More to 60 Countries Most Seriously Affected by the Increase of Food Prices

Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #673, 6.6.2008

• The Government Starts to Create a Labor Court [according to Under-Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training Mr. Oum Mean]

Have a look at last week’s editorial: Setting priorities – what to do to remove some dangerous obstacles, to get safer roads

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