Four young Cambodian girls are in the care of Thai social services are being rescued from a brothel in the border town of Aranyaprathet over the weekend.
The girls were aged just 14 and 15 and were reportedly being kept in locked rooms with bars over the windows. That was until an Australian-based group known as Grey Man got word of their plight, gathered some evidence and tipped off local authorities. Non governmental organisations carry out hundreds of these so-called "rescues" of child sex workers every year.
Presenter: Helene Hofman
Speakers: 'John Curtis', President, Grey Man; Patchareeboom Sakulpitakphon, Program Officer for combatting child sex trafficking and child sex tourism, ECPAT International, Christian Guth, Law Enforcement Advisor, Ministry of the Interior (Cambodia)
Patchareeboom Sakulpitakphon, program officer for combatting child sex trafficking and child sex tourism with ECPAT International says that's because many groups don't fully understand the underlying issues.
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HOFMAN: It's almost impossible to gather accurate figures, but according to the United Nations and anti-trafficking groups working on the ground, anywhere between 100-thousand and 200-thousand children are trafficked every year, in Southeast Asia alone.
Some are rounded up for cheap labour, but about half - it's thought - are forced into the sex industry.
That was the case with the four teenage Cambodian girls rescued from a brothel just a kilometre across the Thai border this weekend.
Trafficking first emerged as a major problem for Cambodia back in the 1990s and has grown steadily as an internal and cross-border problem ever since.
The extent of the problem has led to numerous international organisations and non-governmental organisations like Grey Man moving in.
Its president, who goes by the pseudonym 'John Curtis', says there are many difference types of groups working in Cambodia, and some are more useful than others.
CURTIS: I think Cambodia's probably got more NGOs than any other country in the world and to a degree they're probably all fighting a little bit to find people to rescue. Yes, they are helpful in that they will often place these girls into education and that but I think 87 per cent of those involved in anti-trafficking are religious groups and many of these groups they do have an underlying compulsion to convert these kids unfortunately, but I suppose better that than being stuck in a brothel.
HOFMAN: Grey Man is made up mostly of former members of the Australian police force and Special Service Air Service regiment and has rescued 108 child sex workers in the last three years.
Of those, about 60 per cent of those have stayed out of the sex industry. The other 40 per cent, often with nowhere else to go, have gone back.
Grey Man and many of the other anti-trafficking groups organise re-integreation projects and training to help the victims find an alternative role in society.
But it hasn't been enough to stop hundreds of rescued victims simply slipping through the cracks and back into the industry.
SAKULPITAKPHON: I have to give credit to the Cambodian goverment that in the past couple of years they have really taken the time and effort to create a stronger legal framework; improve collaborations between government officals, law enforcement and NGOs at the ground level. The police by themselves would have a difficult time getting all the information. As a member of an international NGO I think the work of NGOs is of great importance but I think you have to understand too that there are many types of NGOs.
HOFMAN: Sure, and by different types you mean there are smaller ones that might not adhere to the procedures in the same way that you might?
SAKULPITAKPHON: Exactly, because I think each organisation has their own capacity and understanding of issue because sometimes a lot of people have great intentions but if they don't understand what's going on or don't have the proper guidance and guidelines than they could still tumble and have mistakes.
HOFMAN: The Cambodian government stepped-up its efforts to limit these mistakes and tackle the issue more effectively around the year 2000.
However, the number of cases of child sex trafficking is still on the increase.
Christian Guth, a law enforcement advisor who works with the Cambodian Ministry of the Interior and anti-child-trafficking agencies, says there are many reasons for this, ranging from persistant poverty to the complexity of prosecuting offenders.
GUTH: These NGOs are doing very good work, because they are close to the community and they are reporting cases to the police so if things can be successful for the future here. If things can progress it's because there is, first point, strong commitment; second point: people who accept to be trained to make things going forward as with the police this is the case and third thing: international support given. Without this support I think it would be very difficult.
HOFMAN: And the Cambodian General Commissioner has just approved a new set of police guidelines on conducting rescue operations and arresting offenders.
It will be presented to members of the police force next week.
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