CAMBODIA
In Cambodia, local men are still mostly unpunished for buying sex with children.
The Southeast Asian Kingdom of Cambodia is a predominately Buddhist country, with a population of approximately 15 million. (UN 2010) Cambodia borders Thailand and the southern part of Vietnam.
85% of the population live in rural areas ensuring agriculture remains the most important resource.
Cambodia has a tragic past and is deeply influenced by its history from decades of conflict. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, an estimated 1.7 million people died.
The Khmer Rouge plunged the country into deep poverty and political instability.
Their destruction of all social, health, educational and financial systems during their reign had a devastating effect which is still felt today.
Although Cambodia has survived the brutality of the regime, it continues to face many challenges.
Today, it is one of the poorest countries in the world and relies heavily on foreign aid.
Financial pressures in recent years have forced many farmers to sell their land.
More than a third of Cambodia's population lives on less than $1 per day.
Sex Tourism
Tourism is one of the main industries in Cambodia and it is growing rapidly.
Up to 20% of international tourists to Cambodia are sex tourists and among them are those who seek children.
But according to ECPAT, the vast majority of former child sex workers say their clients were local men. These findings run contrary to "the usually held assumption that paedophilia is a Western problem."
"Cambodian men prefer beautiful, fair-skinned, and younger looking sex workers, basically minors," says Chin Chanveasna, head of ECPT's Cambodian office.
Cambodian students travel on boats to school through floodwaters in Kandal province, east of Phnom Penh, Oct. 3, 2011.
Cambodia Students Forced to Pay Bribes to pass exams
Source: RFA | Den Ayuthya | Samean Yun | Richard Finney.
Cambodian schoolchildren are being forced to pay bribes to pass high school admissions tests, a senior local educator said on Thursday while calling on the country’s Ministry of Education to have students retake their most recent exams.
“These tests must be taken again, as the results of the previous tests are not valid,” Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association president Rong Chhun told RFA in an interview.
Proctors and examiners for junior high school students are requiring payments of between U.S. $30 to U.S. $60 for a passing grade on high school entrance exams, Rong Chhun said, adding that “middlemen” are charging similar amounts for assurances the bribes will reach the right people.
“There is a price for middlemen between U.S. $30 to U.S. $50. I urge the Ministry of Education to work with local authorities to bring the suspects to justice,” Rong Chhun said.
Cambodian Minister of Education Im Sethy could not be reached for comment, but the reports of bribery in Cambodia’s schools underscore the country’s reputation, highlighted in a recent report by Berlin-based Transparency International, for widespread corruption in the public sector.
“This bribery takes place across the country,” Rong Chhun said.
Payment to proctors
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the parent of a student in Kandal province said that his son had been told to pay U.S. $30 to proctors at the Bun Rany Hun Sen High School Examination Center in order to pass his exam, held on July 16-17.
“All students were asked to pay at least U.S. $30 dollars, including my son. But my son gave only U.S. $25,” he said.
Results of the exam will be released on July 28, he said.
Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Cambodia 164th worst out of 182 countries surveyed in its 2011 Corruption Perception Index.
Cambodia’s official Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) launched an initiative in May to eliminate bribes solicited by local commune councilors for performing public services, with ACU deputy director Chhay Savuth declaring that “[Cambodia’s] culture of bribery has been in place for over 20 years.”
But international organizations have warned that the country’s graft-busting bodies will not be effective until they are free of government influence and control.
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