CAMBODIA: SEX WORKERS' EXPERIENCES

Phally

I am a sex worker called Phally and I am 20. My father used to be a tricycle rider and my mother sells water lilies and piglets. Before I started sex work, I was studying at school in the morning. In the afternoon after school I sold hats in the streets to help my parents with the family's finances. But when my dad fell ill, the family's money was stretched more and more. I am the second child of four. My elder brother is married and must support his own family. Because I am the second daughter I am responsible for supporting my family. So we sold all our land but still couldn't pay my dad's medical expenses before his death.

I was 17 then when my father died. Someone told me that I could earn US$500 by selling my virginity. I agreed.

It wasn't true, but I earned US$300 by accompanying one client for a week. I had to pay US$200 to the employer. I took the money back to my mother. She was very surprised, and when I told her what I had done to get the money, she just kept crying.

We used some of the money to get the house back, and I gave some to my mother. Then I used the rest in the hat business. But business was bad and my mother became ill. The money was soon gone. I went back to the brothel again, and for every ten dollars I earned I had to give the Madam five. Later I left the brothel when someone introduced me to another brothel.

After one week I realised that I was being sold. On the tenth day, I met a client I already knew. He wrote a letter to my mother bribed the police to go with her to the brothel. At first the owner closed the door. But since he did not want to cause trouble he let the police check the house. There were 30 rooms in the brothel. The police found me and the boss agreed to let me go. It was my first lesson about trafficking.

After that I got a job in a night club selling beer. I worked there for six months for about US$50 a month. But the club closed down after a big fight. That made me unemployed, but it was my responsibility to support my family, but I couldn't find a job. I rented a house and worked as an independent sex worker.

After several months my mother died. I decided to sell our land and house to pay for mother's funeral.

My younger brother and sister did not know my job, so I rented two houses. One was for my sex business, the other was for my younger brother and sister.

After about a year I heard about the sex workers' union in the red light district and signed up. The union teaches us how to deal with awkward customers and the police when they harass us, and educates us about sexual health and the rights of sex workers.

Mam

I was born in 1974. I am one of 14 children, my parents and most of us died in the war. Now I am the last daughter alive. At first I worked in a rubber farm but I was tricked and sold to a brothel in 1991. The trafficker made US$3,200.

Because I lost my virginity like that, I was upset, but decided not to be embarrassed about it, and continued as a sex worker.

In 1998 I was approached to help set up a sex workers' centre. In July 1998 we changed the centre into a union. [The union is a project under Cambodian Women's Development Agency (CWDA).] At first the centre had about 20 members, but now we have more than 50 union members.

We have contacts with 300 sex workers. More than 100 of them are from Vietnam. The CWDA approaches brothel owners, explains the rights of sex workers, and fights for legalisation of sex work. It also provides support to sex workers, to inform them about their rights and how to deal with problematic customers. The union organises classes for illiterate sex workers, providing primary education and knowledge about legal rights. We feel the union is very strong - now the police leave us alone. We argue that our bodies are our own, and making money with them is not like stealing.

In September 1998 the police made fierce raids against sex workers which made educating sex workers much more difficult. So in TV programs every two weeks, the union broadcast on TV, trying to meet the governor and raised the issue of sex workers' rights. 60 sex workers met the Queen and the Prime Minister, to discuss sex workers' problems. Now we have won support from five NGOs.

The union emphasises that sex workers only sell their bodies to earn money, they do not rob or steal. More and more sex workers become aware of our rights. We support one another, and accompany each other to hospital and police stations. When the police arrest my friends we all go there together to support them. Now the police still ask us for money, but the oppression is greatly reduced.

Since employers try to prevent sex workers from joining the union, now most union members have their own flats and work independently. When we are arrested we have to pay a US$20 fine. In principle brothel owners have to pay US$2,000. However, since their relations with the military and police is good, or the owners are the military and police themselves, the owners in fact do not have to pay.

The greatest problems for sex workers are AIDS and the police. In Cambodia, there are 200,000 HIV infected people and 20,000 have AIDS. Cambodia's population? Because of police raids, sex workers are moving to areas where condoms are not popular, so AIDS spreads.