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Bonnie Sherman, Yahoo! Contributor Network
1. Trauma of Cambodia's history of feudalism, civil war and foreign invasions
This country has endured decades of feudalistic colonial government, the involvement in the Vietnam War, the carpet-bombing by the U.S. and the terrors of the Khmer Rouge campaign, all contributing to a state of unrest and instability, Under Pol Pot nearly all of the professionals were imprisoned and then killed. Mistrust developed among families and friends - many keeping silent and secretive about personal matters - afraid of betrayal - hiding their pain.
2. Decades of poverty
Rural and slum-dwelling Cambodians suffer from unbelievable poverty - barely surviving. Parents are willing to sell their daughters (as young as 6-7) into slavery to a brothel. Some may use the money, not for food, but to buy a television or much less. These daughters are all they have of value. Don Brewster, an American who moved here with his wife to set up a shelter for sexually abused children says, "There are no barriers; they will do anything for money and they live for today."
Young boys and girls are sometimes tricked into going to big cities in Cambodia and Thailand thinking they will be working for money, but end up as slaves. They are forced into prostitution or forced labor such as picking through garbage, working in rock quarries and selling products on the street.
3. Economy - sex tourism
The government is hesitant to clean-up child sex exploitation and trafficking. Sex tourism is a big part of their economy. Tourism is increasing in Cambodia and among these tourists are the pedophiles who come to prey on easily accessible young boys and girls. The borders of Cambodia are quite porous making it easy for sex pedophiles to enter the country and also to traffick children in and out of Cambodia for the purpose of child sex and forced labor. One non-governmental agency worker who asked for anonymity, said "There are brothels in some parts of the country where the clients are brought in buses" - a sex holiday!
4. Corruption of police and judges
Programs to combat child sex and slavery trafficking and exploitation have been set up by other countries, the United Nations, non-governmental agencies, the Cambodian government and justice department. These programs have only had minimal success. The government is weak and functions inefficiently. Arrests of child sex and slavery perpetrators are still often handled by bribes and payoffs. Many police have not been sufficiently trained to handle child sex and slave crimes. The United States Department of State's Trafficking in Person Report, 2010-Cambodia , states "In one case, an NGO reported that miltary police in Sithanoukville kept the women and girls who were rounded up from multiple sites and offered them back to establishment owners for $50 per person."
5. Dominance of men over women
Cambodian men who engage in child prostitution and abuse and those involved in trafficking and slavery of children have been conditioned to hold a position of power and control over women and children. Girls, on the other hand, are generally brought up to be subservient to men. The traffickers, brothel owners and criminals who kidnap or buy and sell young children are obviously in it for the money and are probably amoral.
The Cambodian government is attempting to rid the country of crimes against children. They don't have the resources or effective guidelines to really tackle the problem effectively. Programs to bring awareness to the problem have been instituted, but the effectiveness has not yet been evaluated. Among these efforts that have been promoted are television and radio programs, ads in magazines, billboards and signs all designed to reduce crimes against children. A real problem in prosecution of criminals is the lack of a witness protection program. Victims are afraid to take part in the prosecution, for fear of vengeance. They will often resort to accepting pay-backs instead of going through the judicial system. Hopefully, with the support of other nations, The United Nations, and non-governmental agencies, sex and slavery exploitation against children will be greatly reduced.
Sources:
United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 - Cambodia, unhcr.org Khmerfuture staff,Suffer little Children: Legacies of War in Cambodia, khmerfuture.com
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