About Cambodia

INTRODUCTION
Cambodia is ranked as a Tier II and on the Watch List by the State Department in their Trafficking in Person's Report (TIP Report) dated June, 2007. According to TIP definitions, this means that the Cambodian government "does not fully comply with the Act’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards."

In the same report, it was noted that "Cambodia is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor." It is also known that, "Cambodia is a transit and destination point for women from Vietnam trafficked for sexual exploitation."

It should be noted here that in the 2005 TIP Report, Cambodia was rated as one of the worst countries in the world in terms of trafficking and placed under Tier III. Recent efforts by the Khmer government to address various aspects of the issue/s have led to the tier upgrade. However, the overall situation in Cambodia remains dire.

THE ‘VIETNAMESE’ FACTOR
The case for Vietnamese living in urban Cambodia with respect to trafficking and sexual exploitation is even more disconcerting. The longstanding history of animosity between Vietnam and Cambodia has resulted in social ostracism and anti-Vietnamese sentiments throughout the entire country. This is further dampened by the fact that the majority of Vietnamese who reside in Cambodia do not have ‘legal Cambodian papers’ (such as ID card, passport, family book)¹ and it is virtually impossible for them to be recognized as citizens of Cambodia.² Coupled with collective ‘push factors’ (see below), being Vietnamese in Cambodia alone exacerbates their vulnerability to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. This is manifested in the fact that the Vietnamese make up a large number of total commercial sex workers in Cambodia. The number of Vietnamese who work in the commercial sex industry has been estimated to range from 6 – 30 percent of the total population of Vietnamese living in Cambodia.³ Although there is strenuous debate over the actual number of commercial sex workers, few would dispute that Vietnamese comprise a significant proportion of the female commercial sex workers in Cambodia, a number disproportionately high to the total number of Vietnamese living in Cambodia.⁴

VULNERABILITY FACTORS
There are many reasons why families would sell their children for labor and prostitution. Although the issue of poverty underlies any discussion about the sale of children, research has shown that there is no clear, single, or overriding tipping point.⁵ Instead, the decision to sell a child is always nestled on a combined matrix of factors. These include:⁶

1. Poverty as a contributing factor;
2. Crisis or extra-ordinary expense (eg. Healthcare expenses from when a family member falls ill);
3. Debt;
4. Normalization (so common is the occurrence that it has become a ‘subculture’⁷ );
5. Materialism;
6. Family reputation/family honor
7. Cultural perspectives of women

VOICE & TRAFFICKING IN CAMBODIA
There are some non-government organizations (NGOs) operating in Cambodia, as well as some Government services that reaches the Vietnamese. However, they are not always well-equipped to accommodate Vietnamese - very few NGOs employ Vietnamese-speakers, and fewer have ethnic Vietnamese on staff. There is a lack of information, education and communication materials available in Vietnamese language, and little attempts have been made to creatively address cultural differences.⁸ Finally, their lack of legal status precludes Vietnamese from access many government services.

VOICE opened an office in Siem Reap, Cambodia in July 2008. Our work aims to provide direct legal, social, educational, financial and medical services to Vietnamese victims/survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation.