Current State of Affairs in Cambodia

After 30 years of social turmoil, genocide, and armed conflict, Cambodia continues to face developmental challenges, as the country remains one of the poorest in Asia.

Although absolute rates of poverty have fallen between 10 and 15 percent over the past ten years, the majority of rural Cambodians continue to live below the national poverty line, equating to an income of less than $0.50 per day.

In Kampong Speu, the province where SSF works, 57.8 percent of the population falls below the poverty line and 90 percent of the population do not have access to a sanitary toilet. For Cambodia’s poor, education, vocational training and employment opportunities are insufficient to provide the income to meet minimum needs. As a result, rural-to-urban and cross-border migration by vulnerable families and individuals has become increasingly common, as gainful employment is often impossible to find in the poorest and most isolated rural communities. In the process, many become victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, begging rings, or forced marriage.

Despite recent improvements in rates of primary school enrolment, a chronic lack of resources in the education sector, over-crowded schools, and insufficient hours of classroom instruction have all continued to hamper the effectiveness of public education in Cambodia.  In poor rural areas, children complete an average of 2.4 years of schooling compared to 5.4 years among the richest.  The educational level of literate population of Kampong Speu province has revealed that about 65.2 percent of them had not even graduated from primary school.  Among females, this percentage is notably higher at 72.6 percent.

Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. The U.S. State Department has estimated that approximately 600,000 to 800,000 people a year are trafficked across international borders.  The majority of them are girls and most of them end up being forced to work in the sex industry.  Unicef estimates are higher, suggesting that as many as 1.2 million children are trafficked every year worldwide.  Many more are trafficked in country, lured away from their homes with promises of better opportunities.

Most of these victims believe they will be working as domestic servants but are later coerced into sexual exploitation.  Incidences of sex slavery are particularly high in Cambodia.  It is estimated that there are close to 80,000 to 100,000 sex slaves and prostitutes in the country.  Stated differently, 1 in 150 people are sex slaves or prostitutes.

Sex trafficking of women and girls, including ethnic Vietnamese, is prevalent.  The majority end up in and around the urban areas of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville where there demand is the highest.  As we move into 2009, Cambodia remains a major receiving, sending and transit country for human trafficking.  According to the most recent UNAIP report, many factors have contributed to the rise Human trafficking in Cambodia.  These include poverty, socio-economic imbalances between rural areas and urban centers, increased tourism, lack of unemployment, education, and safe migration; poverty being the most significant cause of trafficking.  In a recent survey of trafficked victims who escaped from Thailand, conducted by the International Organization of Migration, 62% reported that the original reason they left their homes was to find jobs to help support their family...[more]