I had planned on taking my team down to the riverside later this weekend so they could experience firsthand some of the prostitution that takes place. Yeah, didn’t need to plan that. We found it right around the corner from our hotel without even looking.
After I led us around a few blocks in search of the Anise hotel/restaurant (I was lost; I tried to hide it from my team by asking a tuk-tuk driver for directions in Khmer. His English responses kept me honest…) Anyway, on the way, two of my teammates spotted a cute “tiki-like” place that also served Cambodian dishes. We kept things democratic, and the majority agreed to dine there. While there, we saw a 50-something Westerner enter with a Cambodian young woman (perhaps not under age). Clearly, by their interactions, this was not a casual meeting of friends or a father-daughter relationship. As we were sorting this situation out (mainly by giving each other strange looks and gestures that attempted discretion but were completely obvious), another couple joined the area on my left. This time both Khmer (despite the media dramatizations, most of the men that participate in the commercial sex industry in Cambodia are local), but the lady was clearly made up and dressed for sex. I decided to call one of my Cambodian friends to get a trafficking hotline number (though I wasn’t sure if it was trafficking). As I was leaving the place to place the call, I walked by the only other seated table in the restaurant–a white man and two Cambodian women. Three for three? That’s some impressive statistics for this restaurant, I must say. I stepped outside the restaurant and noticed a white gentleman on the balcony and two Cambodian women through the window. Especially since these women, though young, did not appear as clear children, there was little we could do legally the same night. However, after phoning a few folks I knew, I ended up reporting it to my friend at IJM who would relay it to their investigations team.
In the future, she said, shaming is totally appropriate as a temporary solution.
As the man took the girl down to his car, holding her hand. My stomach felt sick at the site of something beautiful perverted.
Alright, ugh. I need to sleep and get up in time for aerobics.
Be well, friends,
elizabeth
