Phnom Penh - Dozens of sex worker representatives will meet in the capital to protest the implementation of new laws which make brothels illegal, the groups involved said Tuesday.
Scores of sex workers have been rounded up and dozens of brothels closed since the government recently invoked new laws which workers say unfairly equate consensual sex with human trafficking.
Some male patrons have also been detained and 're-educated.'
The groups say they will appeal directly to Prime Minister Hun Sen to modify the laws, claiming to have been unfairly targeted in the country's moral crackdown which has seen everything from skimpy dresses on television to adultery outlawed in recent years.
Once notorious for its sex trade and known as a haven for perverts and child molesters, Cambodia has made a concerted effort to change this reputation, arresting dozens of men for sex crimes and now attacking the country's thriving flesh trade.
But sex worker groups say the crackdown is only forcing women into the streets or the karaoke bars often used as fronts for prostitution and away from access to health care and education.
Interior Ministry anti-trafficking chief Bith Kimhong was unrepentant, saying the crackdown will continue.
'It is a difficult job because when we shut one, another just opens up, but I will continue to investigate each one, and when we have the evidence, we will continue to close them, because they affect the honour of Cambodia,' he said by telephone.
The sex worker representatives said they would meet on Wednesday, one day before Interior Minister Sar Kheng is due to join a global conference call on anti-trafficking with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to a US embassy press release Tuesday.
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