KIEN SEREY PHAL is director of the Cambodian Women's Development Association in Phnom Penh. She spoke to ROSANNA BARBERO about the problem of the trafficking of women.
Question: When did this issue escalate?
Since 1989, there has been a dramatic increase in the traffic and prostitution of women in Cambodia, and an associated increase in violations of women's human rights.
Sophisticated operations of abduction, sale and trafficking in women and children have been established by profiteering Cambodian and foreign business interests seeking to exploit the underdeveloped legal infrastructure, poor law enforcement and poverty. In recent years, Cambodia has become both a sending and receiving country of trafficked women, with the domestic traffic of women also growing at an alarming rate.
Question: What factors have contributed to the growth in trafficking?
Internal factors contributing to this alarming growth in the flesh trade have included the opening up at Cambodia, economic liberalisation, relaxation of border controls and the growth of the tourist industry; however, particularly the presence of 22,000 UNTAC peacekeeping forces, the increased number of foreign workers and increasing debt and poverty in the countryside.
Question: What has caused the increase of poverty?
The transition to a democratic, free market economy has been to a great extent a sacrifice for the Cambodian people. New social and economic problems and processes impoverishing Cambodian women's lives have emerged since the implementation of the Paris peace agreement.
There has been a marked deterioration in Cambodia's social situation, and the rural economy has stagnated. The situation of vulnerable groups deteriorated, resulting in a manifest increase in unemployment and destitution amongst women.
The influx of foreign aid and UNTAC expenditure arguably resulted in destabilising effects on the local economy. Prices of basic food and commodities increased dramatically, having a direct impact on the purchasing power of the majority of impoverished urban dwellers, and particularly undermined the efforts of women-headed households in providing for their families. Competition between international agencies and UNTAC increased house prices and local wages, increasing the economic gap between the rich and poor, and between rural and urban populations.
The concentration of financial resources in the country's two major cities similarly provided an impetus for rapid growth in rural to urban migration, placing increased pressures on the already overburdened urban infrastructure and compounding problems of urban unemployment and destitution among women and children.
Unemployment, poverty and migration made women and children in situations of poverty particularly vulnerable to exploitation. In part, the UNTAC presence diverted labour and investment away from production of essential goods and services towards tertiary sector activities essentially for foreigners residing in Cambodia.
Question: How has this affected the majority of Cambodians?
The drain of skilled labour away from the public service has reduced operational efficiency and compromised the delivery of essential services such as education and health care. Limited access to health care and education has compounded poverty among women and children, particularly in rural areas.