It was not my intention to pay for the services of a prostitute in Cambodia. But it was the least I could do. My dalliance with that young woman at dawn was spontaneous, infinitely relieving and wholly chaste. It capped, for me, a vicarious romp through the Southeast Asian nation's booming sex industry, a first-hand look at the desperation born out of decades of corruption and suffering. Cambodia can be a very grim place. The latter atrocity killed nearly 2 million Cambodians -- nearly a quarter of the population.
Today about half of the population of 14 million is under 20 years old. The last three decades have seen Cambodia claw its way back to some sort of normalcy. With the magnificent Angkor Wat complex of temples in the north and miles of pristine beaches in the south, Cambodia has seen an increasing number of visitors in the past 10 years as tourism has become a pillar of the country's meager economy.
But economic development and the growth in tourism have brought along with them a marked increase in human trafficking. Many of those trafficked are women and children who end up selling sex in brothels, beer gardens and karaoke bars in these cities. But just because someone is a prostitute does not mean she is a victim of trafficking. The exact numbers are difficult to pin down, but a U. That number likely does not include women who were tricked or fell into prostitution through other circumstances, however.
Nevertheless, the industry thrives. Patrick Stayton, the Cambodia field office director of International Justice Mission IJM , a faith-based human-rights agency, says the quick-cash nature of prostitution has made it a generally accepted part of the culture in Cambodia.
As a result, the country has become an attractive destination for so-called "sex tourists" -- those who travel abroad to fulfill their carnal needs. And with such low overhead to start selling sex, Stayton says, supply can easily keep up with demand: "For a brothel, you just need someplace with a roof over it and a ratty old mattress.
