Up to two million children are enslaved by the global commercial sex trade. Many of these children are either sold into prostitution to pay off family debts or forcibly recruited on the street to work in brothels. Some of these children are as young as 5.

In Cambodia, an exotic holiday destination, a similar fate befalls hundreds of thousands of boys and girls every year.

Together, we are making a difference

To reduce child-sex tourism by foreigners in Cambodia, World Vision started a Child-Sex Tourism Prevention project (CSTP) in 2006, with financial assistance from caring Kiwis who contribute to World Vision New Zealand’s Children in Crisis (CIC) Education and Advocacy programme.

The CSTP will be coming to a close at the end of this year and forms part of an overarching World Vision Peace and Justice programme. Projects are implemented in the capital city of Phnom Penh, and also in Siem Reap, Sihanouk Ville, and a number of other popular tourist destinations in Cambodia.

World Vision Cambodia is working with the Cambodian government, and private tourism operators and employees in the tourism industry to help combat child-sex tourism. Parents and ordinary citizens are also encouraged to become involved and report suspected cases to the authorities.

About three years ago when she was 15 and a 9th-grade student in rural Kampong Cham province (120km east of Phnom Penh), Sok [not her real name] wanted to commit suicide. She had been raped, was unable to talk about it, and lived every day in shame over what had been done to her.

Worse still, three people she trusted had betrayed her trust by selling her for a mere $US366 to the 60-year-old perpetrator. In Cambodia, if a girl has sex before marriage, she brings shame to herself and her family. After the incident, Sok felt so ashamed, she had to leave school. She also tried to end her life by taking an overdose of different medicines. 

Sok and her mother sought assistance from a local non-governmental organisation, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, and Sok was referred to World Vision’s Trauma Recovery Centre, Neavea Thmey. Sok received regular counselling, love and care from the centre’s house parents. She also made good friends and trained in hairdressing. Sok is now a very confident young woman, who, together with friends, has opened a hair salon.

World Vision supported Sok and her friends in the first year of starting the business.

“I am happy with my job and hope to expand my business in future. I thank World Vision for rebuilding my confidence. Without you I would have no hope at all,” says Sok with a big smile.

Your contribution to the CSTP has also made possible the following:

• The Cambodian government has established a Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking body in Siem Reap province and invited the CSTP to appoint a representative to this structure
• Information booklets in English distributed at three main tourist locations have made such an impression on visitors that many donated money towards the World Vision Trauma Recovery Centre for children affected by child-sex tourism
• 35,000 anti-trafficking messages aimed at Asian tourists and 50,000 aimed at Westerners have been displayed on billboards
• 160 Western and 150 Asian tour guides and operators strongly co-operate in child-sex tourism prevention activities in Phnom Phen
• An anti-trafficking police hotline has been implemented and radio stations broadcast the hotline regularly