Cambodia -- Age of Consent

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CAMBODIA

Updated 07-2002:
More confusion about age of consent in Cambodia.  We documented 16 as the age of consent ... but now with the various media cases, we are seeing more and more references to the age as 15. 

"The other, a doctor, was released in 1995 after serving six months on charges of engaging in sexual activities with boys. The age of consent in Cambodia is 15. The doctor said he was a target of homophobia."  From Ananova:   http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_577735.html   and   http://www.sexcriminals.com/news/12699/

And again:
Why was the arrest of Norman Robinson (page 14) not used to illustrate the problem of police corruption (page 1) in the last edition of the Phnom Penh Post? Why are you using the phrase 'under 18' to imply children? In Cambodia sex with a 16-year-old is not illegal. In Cambodia voluntary prostitution by a 16-year-old is not illegal. Cambodian culture and the Cambodian National Assembly define, in relation to sex and prostitution, a minor as under 15 years.

In the Law on the Suppression of the Kidnapping and Trafficking of Human Persons (commonly known as the Debauchery law) article 3 prohibits kidnapping for forced prostitution of persons of any age, and article 8 prohibits sex with minors under 15. Mr. Robinson's actions fall under neither category. Could Mr Robinson have been prosecuted for violating a UN convention? The answer is no for two reasons: firstly, charging any person with violating any UN Convention lacks legal grounds as UN Conventions are not penal laws with penalties (human rights expert Phnom Penh Post 30 April 1999)-persons can only be prosecuted for contravening a relevant domestic law with penalties applicable to that convention; and secondly, UN conventions allow for cultural diversity, so that Cambodia can define, for sexual and prostitution purposes, a minor as under 15. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Part 1, article 1 states "for the purposes of the present convention, a child means every human being below the age of 18, unless under the law applicable [in Cambodia the Debauchery Law] to the child majority is attained earlier." Child prostitutes are therefore persons under 15. The Phnom Penh Post should, when talking about such matters, use the same statistical groupings as the WHO and UN Population Fund which classify children as 0-14 years, after all the Phnom Penh Post should reflect Cambodian values and not those seen in a Christian newsletter.
(Source:  http://www.phnompenhpost.com/TXT/letters/L1022-2.htm)

Interesting article on Polygamy mentioning age of consent:
CAMBODIA: Japanese Tourist Marries 60 Cambodian Girls  - Japanese Tourist Marries 60 Cambodian Girls

PHNOM PENH: An elderly Japanese tourist has "married" as many as 60 Cambodian girls, police said Tuesday. Haruo Gyokumoto, 68, is believed to have wedded the girls in a series of unregistered and therefore unofficial religious ceremonies since the mid-1990s, according to police in the northern tourist town of Siem Reap.

"The weddings are very small and not registered with the authorities. But they take photos and dress up and serve a feast for family members and for ancestral spirits," Siem Reap immigration police chief Major Um Heang told AFP. "So far nobody has complained. Not the girls or their families.

So we have no plan to arrest him, although we have advised him that as a tourist he needs to watch out for his safety." Um Heang said most of the girls were from poor rural families who were paid monthly allowances by the Japanese man, who regularly travelled to the country on a tourist visa. "Our investigations have found he has 'married' between 40 and 60 Cambodian girls, most under the age of 18," he said. "The man has a Cambodian assistant who at the end of each month goes around to the girls and their families and gives them a salary of between 30 and 100 dollars each."

He said that since the marriages were unofficial they did not break Cambodian laws against polygamy. Police said many of the girls and their families knew of each other's existence and there were no issues of consent involved.

There is no age of consent in Cambodia, except in cases of sexual assault where the penalties are higher if the victims is under 16. Rights groups and the UN's protection and monitoring unit here are trying to have minors defined as under the age of 18, in line with international conventions on the rights of children.
Japanese embassy officials in Phnom Penh could not be reached for comment. (AFP)
Posted on 2001-03-21
Back to [Asia Human Rights News - 200103 MAR 2001] (Source:   http://www.ahrchk.net/news/mainfile.php/ahrnews_200103/1720/)

Interesting article on Sexual Exploitation and Trafficing.   http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/IRC/newsdesk_articles.asp?SCID=648    (copy and paste)

Minors and the Law  (from:   http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/Woking_Group_Issues/Civilsociety/rape_report_2001.htm)

Nowhere in the Criminal Code is the word ‘minor’ defined. Under the CRC, anyone under the age of 18 is a minor. While the age of consent to sexual intercourse is not defined in Cambodian law, there are several other Cambodian laws that support the age of majority to be 18. Labor law confuses the matter by providing three different ages of majority (12, 15, 18) depending on the labor situation.

The matter is further confused by section 2 of article 42 of the Criminal Code that provides double the penalty for anyone who sexually assaults a person under the age of 16, and a human trafficking law provides another age benchmark by doubling the penalties for trafficking victims under the age of 15.

Article 33 of the Criminal Code does not specifically recognize statutory rape (consensual sex with a minor under a specified age). Many countries recognize that children below a certain age (usually 15 or 16) are unable to make a mature and informed decision about sexual activity, and make it illegal for anyone to engage in sexual activity with them, even if the children go along with it. Because there is no protection for the young and vulnerable, some young teenage girls become mistresses to rich and powerful men. Children are forced into prostitution and their services openly sold, often to regional businessmen, foreign sex tourists and government officials. Cambodia is unlikely to have a law stating the legal age for sex while government officials and rich and influential men in Cambodia continue to have sex with young girls and virgins.

While article 42 of the Criminal Code provides for longer penalties for offenders who are found guilty of indecent assault against someone less than 16 years of age, this does not apply to the rape article, which specifically excludes indecent assault (sexual activity which does not involve penetration). This is a glaring inconsistency, as rape is a more serious violation than indecent assault.

Only section 3 of article 42 mentions consent. It imposes double the penalty of indecent assault on the person found guilty of procuring, enticing or leading away for the purposes of prostitution, or who exploits the prostitution of a minor with or without consent. This section has been interpreted and used against the trafficking of minors in the past, until the National Assembly passed the Law on the Suppression of the Kidnapping and Trafficking/Sale of Human Persons and Exploitation of Human Persons in January 1996 (“the trafficking law”). While it is arguable that the trafficking law has repealed section 3 of article 42, this section is still used in respect of sexual offending by the Cambodian. This results in several problems, which are discussed at length in Annex 1 of this report.

Article 8 of the trafficking law, which states that regardless of consent, acts of “anacha” with a person under the age of 15 are punishable by 10 - 20 years in prison, is more akin to a statutory rape law. However, using article 8 for that purpose is not legally sound. The word “anacha” has been translated in the English version of the law as “debauchery”, but it is not defined in any Cambodian law. Its meaning in Khmer is too broad to have a precise legal definition.

Additional Update 07-16-2002

[EDITOR:  The below article contains the quote shown.  We can't determine the source.]

From:   http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/16/cambodia.crime.reut/index.html

"Under Cambodian law, those under the age of 18 cannot consent to sex."

Updated 03-2001:

Article 42: indecent assault

1. Any person who sexually offends another, unconsenting, person of either sex by touching, caressing or any other sexual act not involving penetration, is guilty of the misdemeanor of indecent assault and shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of one to three years.

2. If the indecent assault is accompanied by fraud, violence or threat, or if it is committed by any person with authority over the victim, or if the victim is under 16 years of age, the duration of these sentences shall be doubled.

3. Any person who procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, or exploits the prostitution of a minor, even with the consent of that minor, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of two to six years.

New Source:  Cambodian Law     http://www.bigpond.com.kh/Council_of_Jurists/Judicial/jud005g.htm

Updated 01-2001:

From a Reader:  "If the age of consent in cambodia is 15 then how can they have a trial for this American?"

PHNOM PENH, Dec 18 (AFP) - A US tourist has been charged with the rape and indecent assault of a child prostitute in Cambodia in a  rare instance of the courts here showing a willingness to tackle  such a case, officials said Monday.
A Phnom Penh court charged James Curtis Parks, 57, from Hawaii,  with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in a hotel room, a charge he denied saying he was impotent and had been teaching meditation when  police arrived.

"I am a good man. I came here to teach meditation, English and photography. I have been helping her," Parks, a freelance
photographer, told reporters who visited his jail cell Monday where  he can be held for up to six months pending trial.
"How can I have sex with her? I have been unable to have an  erection for seven years," he added.  However, police and court officials questioned why the pair were naked when the hotel room was raided on Wednesday last week.  "We charged him with rape and indecent assault late Friday,"  said Phnom Penh's deputy municipal court prosecutor Ngeth Sarath.
"I don't know if this is the first such case, but I don't  remember any others, so it is quite rare," he said.  A Cambodian woman who allegedly acted as a pimp was also charged  with debauchery.  If convicted, Parks faces a maximum 10 years in jail, while the  woman whose charge also relates to an offence of human trafficking  faces 10 to 20 years. 

The case follows the sentencing in November of British teacher  John Keeler, 55, to three years in a Cambodian jail for making a video of four girls ranging from eight to 10 years old lifting their dresses and fondling themselves.  Rights workers said they hoped that case marked a turning point  in Cambodia, where lax laws and an unwillingness to disrupt tourism  have seen the country develop a reputation as a haven for foreign  paedophiles. 

There is no legal age of consent defined in Cambodian law, but  indecent or sexual assault is punishable by one to three years in jail. That sentence is doubled if the person assaulted is under the  age of 16, according to United Nations legal experts here. Rape, although rarely prosecuted, is punishable by five to 10 years with no age issues involved.

Rights groups and the UN's protection and monitoring unit here  are currently trying to have minors defined as under the age of 18 in line with international conventions on the rights of children.  Current legislation dates back to the early 1990s when Cambodia was administered by a UN transitional authority.  A leading child advocacy group said the court had initially been
reluctant to charge Parks as the girl confessed to being a  prostitute and had been paid 30 dollars for sex.  "The court did not want to charge the man because they said the  girl was not a virgin and had not been forced into sex. But under pressure from us they have at least charged him with rape and  indecent assault," said Yim Po, chairman of the Cambodian centre for
the protection of children's rights.  He said the girl was now in the centre's care and would be  taught some basic reading, writing and life skills and helped to   find a job.  Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned in a speech last week
that the country's efforts to attract foreign visitors ran the risk  of swamping traditional culture and increasing the likelihood of sex tourism.

Source:  http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/
Cambodia - Cambodge - Camboya
Phnom Penh

EDITOR:  We are unable to translate this legal citation.

IV. Child prostitution
Article 2 CHAPITRE PREMIER DISPOSITIONS GENERALES de la Loi portant sur les enlèvements, la traite
des êtres humains et l'exploitation des êtres humains

" Est absolument interdit, l'enlèvement des êtres humains en vue de la vente ou la prostitution et
l'exploitation des êtres humains, à l'intérieur ou à l'extérieur du territoire du Royaume du
Cambodge. "

Article 3 CHAPITRE DEUXIEME DU KIDNAPPING EN VUE DE LA VENTE OU DE LA PROSTITUTION de la
Loi portant sur les enlèvements, la traite des êtres humains et l'exploitation des êtres humains

" Toute personne qui attire (provoque) un être humain de l'un ou l'autre sexe, mineur ou majeur,
quelle que soit sa nationalité, aux moyens de ruse (séduction), par des promesses d'argent ou de
bijoux ou par n'importe quel moyen, avec ou sans son consentement , par des menaces ou par
usage de médicaments hypnotiques (ou anesthésiques) dans le but de l'enlever en vue de la vente
ou de la prostitutiton, doit être punie d'une peine de prison de 10 à 15 ans.

Le complice qui participe aux faits avec le vendeur, l'acheteur ou le receveur doit être puni de la
même peine que l'auteur principal. Sera également considéré comme complice, celui qui fournit
de l'argent ou des moyens facilitant la commission des infractions. "

Les moyens de transport des matériels et des biens utilisés pendant la commission des ifractions
doivent être saisis comme bien de l'Etat. "

Article 5 CHAPITRE QUATRIEME DU PROXENETISME de la Loi portant sur les enlèvements, la traite des
êtres humains et l'exploitation des êtres humains

" Le proxénète ou chef des prostituées doit être puni d'une peine de prison de 5 à 10 ans. En cas
de récidive, le double de la peine est appliqué.

Doit être puni d'une peine de prison de 10 à 20 ans le proxénétisme:

1. commis sur un mineur âgé de moins de 15 ans, ou

2. commis avec contrainte, violence ou menace avec ou sans arme,

3. commis par le mari, l'épouse, le fiancé, la fiancée, le père ou la mère, le tuteur,ou

4. si la prostitution est commise à l'étranger, ou sur le territoire du Cambodge par un étranger ou
une étrangère.

Le tribunal peut prononcer la peine accessoire de restriction de droits civiques et d'interdiction
de séjour en complément de la peine principale sus-mentionnée. "

Article 6 portant sur les enlèvements, la traite des êtres humains et l'exploitation des êtres humains

" Le complice ou la personne ayant tenté de commettre l'infraction prévue aux articles 4 et 5 de la
présente loi, encoure la même peine que l'auteur principal. "

Article 8 CHAPITRE QUATRIEME DE L'ACTE DE DEBAUCHE de la Loi portant sur les enlèvements, la traite
des êtres humains et l'exploitation des êtres humains

" Toute personne qui a commis un acte de débauche sur un mineur de moins de 15 ans, même avec
le consentement de celui-ci ou par l'achat de celui-ci à des tiers ou à un proxénète, sera puni
d'une peine de 10 à 20 ans de prison.

En cas de récidive, la peine maximale sera appliquée. "

Child abuse is believed to be widespread, although there are no statistics on the extent of
the problem. Child prostitution remained a serious problem. Although sexual intercourse
with a minor under the age of 15 is illegal, child prostitution was common, due in part to a
cultural preference for sex with virgins. There were reliable reports that children were
kidnaped in several provinces and forced into the illegal sex trade, both in Cambodia and
abroad.

Research Links:

All about Cambodia and related links:  http://www.cambodiajournal.com/

Suffer the little children -- http://www.canoe.ca/OttawaChildren/home.html

About Phnom Penh -- http://www.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp/faculty/kisbell/cambodia/pp.html

Bibliography -- http://www.inet.co.th/org/gaatw/DocCen/cambodia.html

Newspaper -- http://www.phnompenhpost.com/TXT/subinfo.htm

Boy Prostitutes -- http://www.cwa.tnet.co.th/vol12-3/vol16n22.htm

Travel -- http://www.travelnotes.org/Asia/cambodia.htm

Travel -- http://www.stoessel.ch/cambodia1.htm

Trafficking in women and children -- http://www.unescap.org/wid/01winap/article23.htm

The "Scene" in Phnom Penh -- http://www.webcom.com/leongsam/cambodia.html

Children sold into slavery -- http://www.vinsight.org/1996news/1204a.htm

CONSTITUTION OF CAMBODIA -- http://www.cambodia.org/facts/constitution.html

MAJOR source of articles on child prostitution and trafficking in Cambodia -- http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/cambodia.html

Cambodian Human Rights Group -- http://www.cwa.tnet.co.th/Vol12-1&2/LICADO.htm

Constitution of Cambodia:  http://www.embassy.org/cambodia/cambodia/constitu.htm   and http://asiarecipe.com/camcons.html

Source:
U.S. Department of State
Cambodia Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 30, 1998. http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1997_hrp_report/cambodia.html

Friday June 5 1998           Cambodia                     Fewer foreigners visiting for child sex
The number of foreigners visiting for sex with children has fallen due to the economic slump and the country's reputation as a dangerous destination, rights advocates said. But non-governmental organisations monitoring the flesh trade said the grim economic climate within the country had led to a surge in domestic trafficking of women and children. Yim Po of the Centre for the Protection of Child Rights said there had been a dramatic decrease in sex tourism since July last year, when political instability erupted into open warfare. "Before July, sex tourism was flourishing. Every day you would see hotel mini-buses filled with foreigners in Phnom Penh's brothel districts," he said.

"But now very few people from the region are coming to Cambodia to do business."   He said several high-profile arrests of suspected paedophiles, and reports of robberies and kidnappings, had also contributed to a reduction in sex tourism.  But World Vision's Children's Programme manager, Laurence Gray, said rising unemployment was leading more families to sell their children into the domestic sex trade.

"A virgin will fetch up to US$1,000 (HK$7,700) in Phnom Penh, and in a poor country that's a huge amount of money," he said. Corruption made policing "virtually impossible". "With unemployment comes alcoholism and gambling and we know of many cases where children have been used as security against money borrowed by their parents from brothel owners." Mr Gray said up to 100 girls - some as young as 11 - were sold into sexual slavery each month.

(Archived due to poor originating server location -- http://members.nbci.com/_XMCM/magone/07.001.015.html)

Around The Globe: Cambodia vows to crack  down on sex tourism (Sept 27, 2000)

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia plans to launch a new campaign against sex tourism by posting signs at hotels,
guesthouses and nightclubs warning against sex with children, tourism minister Veng Sereyvuth said according
to Reuters.

"Sex tourism - no", he said in an emotional speech to reporters after the morning session of a tourism industry
conference in Phnom Penh. "Cambodia should prevent this trend. The country has more than 1,000 temples and
more to be discovered...We don't need the sex industry to attract tourists," he said.

(Archived from http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/270900/detFOR07.asp)

Cambodia to Expel Foreign Sex-Crime Suspects?
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia plans to expel foreigners suspected of sex offences, regardless of whether they are found guilty of any crime, a local newspaper reported Tuesday.   A blacklist of all foreign sex-crime suspects would be drawn up, the Cambodia Daily reported, and those on the list would be denied a new visa when their current one expired.  ``When they finish their visa they will have to leave our country and not be able to return,'' Minister of Women's Affairs Mu Sochua told the newspaper.  The blacklist will be distributed to Cambodian embassies overseas and at all border-crossing points, she said,
adding that Cambodian courts were not properly dealing with foreign sex offenders.    The newspaper quoted an unnamed human rights worker as saying the planned blacklist was a ``travesty for the rule of Cambodia'' because targeting people who are simply suspected of committing a crime is an abuse of human rights.   Cambodia is regarded as a major center for child prostitution, but suspects are often freed by the courts amid suspicions of corruption.

(Archived from  http://www.legalhumour.com/news/9-12-00.htm         Sept 12, 2000)

CAMBODIA  DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST SEX TOURISTS AND TRAFFICKERS

[Phnom Penh Daily: 7.9.00; Bangkok Post: 15.9.00; The Nation: 27.9.00] - AS Cambodia struggles to recover from three decades of genocide and war, a vicious combination of poverty, corruption and global tourism has produced a new threat -
sexual exploitation of children and women. In September, the government announced it would launch a new campaign against sex tourism by posting signs at hotels, guest houses and nightclubs to shame sex tourists.

"Sex tourism - No," Cambodia's Tourism Minister, Veng Sereyvuth said in an emotional speech to reporters at a recent tourism-industry conference in Phnom Penh.   "Cambodia should prevent this trend. The country has more than 1,000 temples and more to be discovered… We don't need the sex industry to attract tourists."

Veng also called on other ministries to help eradicate Cambodia's image as a sex tourism destination. "We also will have a policy to withdraw the licence of any business-owner who is involved in the sex industry," he added.

Children's rights exports have reported an upsurge in child-sex cases as the number of tourist arrivals has increased. "The sexual exploitation of children is a very serious problem in Cambodia, and its perpetrated by both Cambodians and foreigners," said Chanthol Ung, executive director of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre. "But we're noticing the trend of more and more foreigners coming here to sexually exploit children."

At risk are girls as young as ten years old brought in from the countryside or smuggled across the Vietnamese border to service a seemingly insatiable sex industry centred in Phnom Penh. "Children are often forced into prostitution by their parents or tricked into the trade by pimps," said Chanthol Ung, adding, "Vietnamese girls are brought here under similar circumstances."

Internet websites and pornographic magazines that advertise child sex in Cambodia as cheap and easy ensures a constant stream of customers for child prostitutes, explained Yim Po, executive director of the Cambodian Centre for the Protection of
Children's Rights.

"The child sex trade spills over from Thailand… Cambodia is becoming a favourite destination for both sex tourists and paedophiles," said Sebastian Marot, coordinator of an organization that assists Phnom Penh's 10,000 street children. "Cambodia is one of the hunting grounds of European, Asian and Australian paedophiles, and every kind of exploitation imaginable is going on."

Cambodian police and courts are generally unable and unwilling to take effective action against foreigners accused of sex offences. Suspects are often freed by the courts amid allegations of corruption. According to a recent Cambodia Daily report,
however, the government plans to draw up a blacklist of all foreign sex-crime suspects and to expel those on the list, regardless of whether they are found guilty or not. "When they finish their visa, they will have to leave our country and will not be able to return," Minister of Women's Affairs Mu Sochua told the newspaper. The blacklist would be distributed to Cambodian embassies overseas and at all border-crossing points, she said, adding that Cambodian courts were not dealing properly with foreign sex offenders.

In a separate development, two Taiwanese men and a Romanian woman have recently been arrested, facing human trafficking charges that carry up to 20 years imprisonment. The Taiwanese are accused of luring local women into false marriages
and then selling them into prostitution in their country. The Romanian woman is alleged to have done the same with seven women from Eastern Europe and bringing them to Cambodia for vice. Six local women, who acted as procurers for the Taiwanese, are also in detention. However, a Cambodian court released the suspect Chinese-Canadian hotel manager, who has been charged of holding the European girls in a forced prostitution ring catering to rich businessmen and high government
officials.

The release of the hotelier brought condemnation from human rights workers. Marlene Alejos, an investigator for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the UN would press to see that all involved in human trafficking were charged.
Meanwhile, the Cambodian police vowed to continue the crackdown against human traffickers indefinitely as the country had become a focal point for the illegal trade in women.

(Archived from http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/nf65.htm)

Cambodian Marriage And Sexual Behavior
As a general rule, a high values is placed on proper standard of sexual behavior and on premarital chastity. This is very true in the rural
areas, but in urban society, it applies nearly solely to the girls, who are required to be above all reproach in this matter. Premarital
activities by girls is condemned, but more men experience premarital sexual relations, especially in the cities where prostitutes are found.
In the rural areas, virginity in a bride is mandatory; in the cities attitudes about this tend to be less rigit nowadays. In some villages,
a brige who gets pregnant even by her betrothed, is considered the shame of the family or as an evil person who will attract bad fortune or evil
spirits over all the family, and therefore she is ostracized from the family.

Marital fidelity is mandatory, too, but practically only for women.  Polygamy is still legal but is diminishing significantly because of economic pressure. However, government officials and the rich individuals these days can have up to dozen of mistresses and sex slaves. In the rural areas, girls have to observe a strict code of   conduct, the custom that is losing its influence in modern society. For instance, at the age of 12, there is the ceremony of "Kor Sak", or cutting the top
tuft of the hair; it is the puberry rite symbolizing the passage from childhood to adolescence. The onset of menstruation, ritually marked by the practice known as "entering the shade", is also disappearing.

The young Cambodian children are not permitted much knowledge of sex, because the parents feel that too much knowledge can lead to desire and
eventually to trouble. In practice, Cambodian girls receive little information about sex until teh last minutes of the night of the wedding feast, when the bride's parent and the "Acha" take the bride aside and explain the basic facts of sex.

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