Cambodia, Sihanoukville
In the last century Cambodia was torn by wars and dictatorships. During Pol Pot’s rule from 1975 until 1979 it is estimated that 50,000 people were executed and another 1.2 million died through starvation and torture in camps. The sex trade in Cambodia expanded in the early 1990s. Today the average age of the estimated 20,000 sex workers is thought to be 15.
Most Cambodians are desperately poor, that is why they become easy prey for traffickers. Child-sex workers tell haunting stories of being sold into prostitution by family members or mates. In addition, the UN claim that almost 30% of Cambodia's brothel-based prostitutes are HIV positive. Since most have never had a blood test, the percentage could be much higher.
Cambodian men, women and children are trafficked reportedly by crime syndicates, parents relatives, friends and intimate partners and neighbors. They are trafficked for the purpose of prostitution, domestic servants, forced labor in organized begging rings soliciting, street vending, and flower selling. Cambodian men, women and children are sent to Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and as far as Somalia and Saudi Arabia.
Cambodia is also a destination country for women and children who are trafficked from Vietnam and China for sexual exploitation. Common destinations for trafficking victims are Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville. In particular, Sihanoukville has become the main destination for homeless children in southern Cambodia. There are many children wandering on the streets and at the beach at night; they are either unable or afraid to live at home, forced to work begging or selling goods, or do not have a home. They beg for money and food from tourists. This creates dependence and encourages begging. Parents and guardians fail to realize that by forcing their children to sell on the streets, they are actually keeping them away from school, and putting them in dangerous situations through being on the streets and beaches late at night.
The project in Cambodia is based on and benefits from the sisters’ experience gained in Pattaya, Thailand, where since 1989 they have run the Fountain of Life Centre for Women and the Fountain of Life Centre for Children. This mission has flourished and is well known in Thailand and overseas. The sisters started their activities in Sihanoukville, in Cambodia, which is the centre of prostitution and trafficking. Therefore to address this issue the sisters have begun classes in these areas with the aim of empowering and educating women and children with skills that will help them find jobs in the growing tourist industry without resorting to prostitution.
Accommodating the increasing number of women and children that come to the existing Center to facilitate the educational and skills training activities is the current sisters’ goal in Cambodia. At present the sisters are renting a building which has become far too small. Thus it becomes urgent to construct a new and larger building for the activities’ center.
Activities to implement to address Human Trafficking in Sihanoukville
The project aims at empowering women and children through:
1) skills training
2) education
3) health care
Activities conducted at the center
Language classes for children and for women
o Khmer language;
o English Language;
o Teaching ethics and self protection through songs;
o Language classes are also provided in local “villages”, (poor areas in the city);
o The staff also teach the women in the bars: this provides an opening to implicate the women on other levels.
Skills training for teenage girls and women
o Hairdressing
o Foot massage
o Counseling
Health
o First Aid
o Health Education on HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases
Help us respond to the increasing demand for assistance by contributing to the funding of the new building.
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