Day 24: Cultural Preparation – Understanding the Different Types of Sex Trafficking in Cambodia

Many people, when they think of sex trafficking, have a limited view of what this form of
exploitation entails. One common image that may come to mind is of a small child,
kidnapped from her parents or purchased from a rural village in Vietnam, transported
over the border to Cambodia and sold to foreign men in a dirty brothel along with
hundreds of other girls. While this perception is not wrong, the truth is that it is only one
of many examples of sex trafficking in Cambodia.
Today, you will read briefly about some of the most common forms of sex trafficking in
Cambodia, but it is important first that you deal with one very common but displaced
stigma on women and children in prostitution. Prostitution, in Cambodia and in the rest
of the world, goes hand-in-hand with sex
trafficking. Sex trafficking, as a crime, exists
where a person who is underage64 or by
force, fraud or coercion, has been
purchased and sold for sex—there is no
requirement that the person be transported.
This means that not only are kidnapping
victims who are bought and sold for sex
considered victims of trafficking, but also any
person in prostitution who is being controlled
by a pimp or brothel owner should be
considered a trafficking victim as well. Furthermore, coercion takes many forms—any
person who is in prostitution because of poverty, economic coercion, racism, a lack of
alternatives because of other stigmas or limitations placed upon her (she is the child of
prostitution, a minority, a non-citizen, an orphan, a victim of sexual abuse, etc.) is
trafficked. What may appear to be “choice” by a woman or child to sell sex is actually
coercion by the circumstances of their lives and depravity of their society.
It is crucial that we avoid placing stigma or judgment on any person we see in systems
of prostitution or trafficking because these are the very women and children you are
going to Cambodia to serve. Some of them will be easier to love than others, but it is
important that you remember the circumstances in their lives that have led them to
where they are today. Trafficking in Cambodia, as elsewhere in the world, takes many forms. The following are
typical examples of a few:
 Child trafficking: Svay Pak, where AIM operates Rahab’s House I and II, the
Agape Training Center, Lord’s Gym, and the Rahab’s House School, was known
as the epicenter of child sex-trafficking in Cambodia. Tourists from all over the
world would travel to Svay Pak, about eleven kilometers outside of Phnom
Penh,65 to purchase the youngest and most vulnerable for sex. Most of the
children being bought and sold in Svay Pak came from Vietnam, rural
Cambodia, or Svay Pak itself. Most were typically taken through fraud or
coercion from their families, though some families may well know what is
happening and are complicit in the exploitation. Until about 2005, children were
sold out of brothels to pedophiles, but after many of these brothels were raided
by police, traffickers developed new tactics. Svay Pak is no longer the epicenter
it once was, but trafficking still persists, albeit more covertly. Now, when
pedophiles would come into town, a trafficker negotiates meeting places and
prices for the child to be exploited elsewhere.
 Massage Parlor Trafficking: Many young women and children are also exploited
in massage parlors. Most of the young women in massage parlors are older than
the children exploited in Svay Pak, and their coercion takes a different form.
When customers, both foreign and domestic, come to the massage parlor,
prices and terms are negotiated. While the massage parlor may offer massages,
other forms of sexual conduct may also be available for customers to request.
The women who work at these massage parlors are typically expected to meet
customers’ requests, regardless of whether they want to or not, because it helps
to earn the massage parlor more revenue than basic massage services.
 Karaoke bars are now one of the most common forms of entertainment and
exploitation in Cambodia. Karaoke bars employ young women to keep
customers entertained while they sing karaoke. In most bars, sex doesn’t occur
on the premises, but customers negotiate meeting places and times with bar
managers or the young women. Women are expected to make and keep these
appointments, and they have to pay fees to the karaoke bar, their drivers, and
often the hotels where the meetings occur. Holding these appointments offpremises
allows bar owners to claim that they are not brothels, but in most cases,
women are forced by their employers, at times with physical violence, to make
and take “dates,” even with customers who appear very dangerous. Many women and girls working at karaoke bars appear to be able to come and
go as they please, but they often have pressure from their families to work there
in order to send money home. While it may appear that it is their choice to be
there, it is important to understand that family pressure keeps them there as well
as cultural stigma if they try to leave and seek employment elsewhere.
 Beer gardens are essentially bars or clubs where customers come to socialize,
drink and party. Similar to karaoke bars, young women are employed to serve
customers in beer gardens, and customers often make arrangements with the
women or managers to meet off-premises. Like in karaoke bars, the women have
little say in refusing customers, and while they have the freedom to quit their work
at the beer garden, because of the social stigma placed on them for having
engaged in that work, they are often left with few other opportunities.
Furthermore, like the girls working at karaoke bars, most of them are there
because of family pressure to make money to send home.
AIM does outreach to and works with young women and children who have been
subjected to trafficking in each of these different forms. Even where it may appear to
be a young woman’s choice to remain where she is, it is important that you understand
that the coercion and circumstances for why she is there vary. Rahab’s House-Siem
Reap is located within walking distance of a karaoke bar and was started specifically to
reach out to girls in these bars throughout the city. The center holds medical clinics, runs
a beauty salon, offers ESL and other types of classes, and provides opportunities for the
girls to leave the karaoke bars if they do not want to return (see page 32 of the
Appendix for more information about Rahab’s House-Siem Reap). The volunteers and
staff in Siem Reap are dedicated to demonstrating consistent and ongoing love for the
girls trafficked in the karaoke bars, and it has been through this type of consistent
presence and outreach that they have begun to make an impact in the community
and have seen many girls begin to transition out of the bars.
Read John 8:3-11. It is not your place to pass judgment, nor is it your place to think of
yourself as higher than you ought. Remember from earlier days in this devotional that
you are not going to Cambodia to rescue, to pity, or to look down upon those you
have come to serve, but rather that you are going in order to serve and to glorify God.
Here are some questions to consider:

1. What are my preconceived notions about sex trafficking in Cambodia?
2. What are my preconceived notions about the people to whom we will be ministering?
3. How do I serve and love without judgment or bias and with a humble heart?