For many girls in Cambodia, this natural feeling is destroyed once they are entered into the sex trade, often not by their own free will. This reality is displayed all over the streets of Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap, the 2 major cities in Cambodia. These girls are used by their owners to make money from not only the locals, but the many tourists who come through each year.
The following information defines the reality of this crime:
“They told me they could help me to find a job, and my family was poor and needed food. The job turned out to be in a brothel. I was forced to take 20 to 30 clients a day, and was denied food or tortured if I refused or asked for a break. The money went straight back to the brothel owner, to pay off my ‘debt’
for room and board. They threatened to find me and kill me if I left.”
This is slavery.
Human trafficking is considered the world’s second largest, fastest growing organized crime. The International Labor Organization estimates up to 20.9 million people toiling as modern slaves around the globe, and UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are sold every year. The ILO estimates that 55 percent of forced labor victims are women and girls, as are 98 percent of sex trafficking victims.
The human trafficking business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Sex trafficking alone is estimated to generate $7 billion per year, but INTERPOL believes the number to be closer to $19 billion.
The Asia Pacific region (which includes South Asia) has the largest number of victims in forced labor – 11.7 million. Additionally, 55 percent of forced labor victims are estimated to be women and girls, as are 98 percent of sex trafficking victims. Children as young as three or four can be sold for as little as $100 and forced to serve up to 30 clients per day.
For more information on sex trafficking, and what can be done to help, visit:
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