The Protect project began its journey in 2003 in Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in Asia. 77% of Cambodia's 14 million inhabitants survive on less than $2 per day. Important factors contributing to the poverty are the loss of agricultural lands, lack of opportunities, and natural disasters. This situation leads to greater migration from the countryside to the city and, in recent years, to the growing tourist areas.
Local organizations report that between 1,000 and 1,500 children live in the streets of Phnom Penh with no ties to their families, and between 10,000 and 20,000 work in the streets to support themselves or their families. This situation puts them in a very vulnerable position when faced with sexual predators and prostitution networks. It is important to note that since 2000, the stabilization of the current political situation in Cambodia, where 70% of the population is under 25, has favored the expansion of the tourist industry and the arrival of foreigners, who decide to make the country their home.
Since the 1990's, organizations involved in the fight against prostitution and reporting child abuse within the family have been based in this region.
Protect focuses on child sex abuse that takes place outside of brothels and places involved in the sex trade in Cambodia, mainly perpetrated by foreigners. Until the project was started, there was no other initiative aimed at informing, investigating and reporting these happenings.
A team of more than 29 investigators follows and gathers evidence which will later be used to prove the involvement of offenders in the sexual abuse of minors. To obtain such evidence they go undercover as drivers, English teachers or even craftsmen. Shrewdness, discretion and patience are some of the key qualities of a Protect investigator who, in addition to watching, following and taking pictures of suspected sex offenders, also provides counsel to potential victims.
The techniques used by sexual predators to approach their victims are varied, although the records of investigated cases indicate that offenders usually persuade children to keep the event secret after the victim is abused.
The evidence gathered is handed over to the police, who will use it to make arrests and bring the suspected sex offenders to justice.
“Given our culture, we normally don't suspect that a man could commit abuse. For example, two rooms are rented; one room for women and girls, and the other for the predator and the boys. Now, the abuser has an opportunity to sleep with the boy. This is one of the main obstacles faced when investigating, watching and following them”.
"Quite often I go into the hotel rooms because the policeman arresting the sex offender asks me to act as an interpreter, otherwise they would be unable to communicate. This is our chance to take photographs, which are a very solid type of evidence to have". Tola, Protect project investigator.
Getting the abusers sentenced is one of the objectives of Protect. In addition to investigating suspected sex offenders, Protect informs the victims and their relatives about their rights.
Once the judicial proceedings against the abuser have started, Protect's staff provides the families with free legal representation, standing as the accuser, and during the case provide the witness statements and photographs gathered during the investigation. They also provide the results of medical exams conducted on the victims.
Protect's lawyers ensure that the proceeding is conducted within the due process of law and that the courts give the appropriate treatment to the victims, who usually lack the necessary means to defend themselves.
"During the investigations, it is often difficult to get a family to admit that their children may have been abused by a foreigner. This is the main hurdle. Often, the family receives economic support from the suspected sex offender we are following," Seila Samleang, Director of Protect's Project in Cambodia.
The first aid provided to the victims includes medical exams as well as inquiries regarding the children's surroundings. Virtually none of the abused children have a legal identity or recognized age. So, it is the job the Protect staff to gather the little data available, such as name, family details, age or place of birth, whenever possible.
Protect carefully reviews each of the cases it deals with. In some cases the family can help with the recovery of the abused children. In other cases Protect tries to place them in a safe environment, like foster homes owned by local organizations, for a greater chance of recovery.
Many children abused by sex offenders are referred to foster homes where they receive integral care: food, education and psychological support. The main objective is to provide the children with a healthy and stable environment, with all of the necessary resources to help them recover from a traumatic childhood. This process is achieved through educational activities and the support of many experts.
Protect currently supports 3 Foster Homes in Phnom Penh.
The children make their own decision to join the foster homes, all of which operate as one big family. The foster home program provides the children with the opportunity to grow and develop into adults until they are prepared to embark on a new independent life.
"I realized something was going on when I saw my daughter with new clothes and a new mobile phone. My daughter told me about the foreigner and I thought that his intentions may not be good ones, since he'd bought these things for her with no reason at all". CH. D, mother of a victim of sexual abuse.
The work carried out by Protect's investigators has led to the opening of over 200 new files on suspected crimes relating to the abuse of minors by foreigners residing in Cambodia.
Over 80 arrests for suspected sexual abuse have been made involving at least 200 victims.
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Since the early years of Protect, and mainly thanks to its actions and coordination with local and international authorities, there has been a change in the attitude of the state security and legal agencies which has led to the arrest, trial and conviction of many offenders.
In the last 5 years, those arrested have come from the following countries: United States, Cambodia, Germany, Vietnam, France, the United Kingdom, Holland, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Italy.
"Cambodia has enough laws to combat child sexual exploitation. There only lacks the willingness of some people to deal with the problem as it should and enforce the law." Keo Sakhon, judge of Municipal Court in Phnom Penh.
The Cambodian Constitution (art. 48) states: “The State shall protect children's rights, particularly the right to life, education, protection in times of war, and economic or sexual exploitation."
Since 2008, Cambodia has specifically defined the crime of Sexual Exploitation of Children in the new Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Act, repealing the previous Suppression of Kidnapping, Human Trafficking/Sale of Human Beings and Sexual Exploitation Laws of 2001, and any rule that contradicts earlier.
For the first time the new law is adequate for international standards, especially for recommendations of the UN. Under the expression "any form of", the law includes child sexual exploitation, prostitution, pornography, human traffic and child sex trade for minors under 18 years of age. A prison term of 15 to 20 years is the penalty for these crimes. Reoffenders will face the maximum penalty for the crime. The law establishes the same penalty for the attempted crime, for an accomplice and the traffickers themselves. It also regulates new criminal penalties for child prostitution between 7 and 15 year sentences, and for the first time, possession of pornographic material ("everything that visual material, whether in photography, video or any other electronic format in which they represent the naked body of a child who excite or stimulate sexually ") is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. However, Article 34 creates legal ambiguity, and citing the "sexual intercourse or other sexual behaviour" without defining in detail the latter. According to the article, "any sexual conduct with minors is also punishable (2 to 5 years imprisonment if the victim is between 15 and 18 years of age and between 5 and 7 years imprisonment if the victim is under 15 years of age).
Internationally, Cambodia has signed and ratified, since 1992, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, the Convention number 182 ("on the worst forms of child labour and immediate action to eliminate") of the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2006 and, and since 2002 one of the most important standards in this area, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and using children in pornography in 2000.
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