Condoms Feared Criminal in Sex Crackdown
Sex workers say enforcement of an anti-trafficking law enacted more than six months ago is making it harder for them to protect themsel
Every night as the sun sets, Srey Mao begins looking for sexclients at a public park in PhnomPenh, where she has worked for the past 10 years.Until Cambodiapassed a new anti-trafficking law in February, she always carried a condom, but aprovision of the law that bans public solicitation of sex has made that harder. To carry a condom now is to carry evidence of a crime, SreyMao said. "When the police come, I run down into a hole, andsometimes I climb up a tree, not daring to bring a condom along because if thepolice find it, they will accuse me of prostitution and disorder," saidSrey Mao, 40, standing under a tree in front of the Royal Railway station inPhnom Penh. Over the past few months, she said, enforcement of the newlaw has meant police in every district of the capital have been arresting sexworkers on the streets. "I never use a condom and always feel afraid the policewill arrest us," she said. "Sometimes we hide ourselves under a treeor in the garden bushes." Article 24 of the "Law on the Suppression of HumanTrafficking and Sexual Exploitation" bans public solicitation of sex, with apenalty of one to six days in prison and a fine of 3,000 riel, about $0.75. The penalty may seem small, but organizations and sexworkers say the new law has been an obstacle to another government initiative,the 100 percent use of condoms in the sex industry, declared in 1999. Leng Sros, a 24-year-old beer server, said that after thelaw, the use of condoms diminished among women in her industry who also havesex clients. "Most of the beer promotion girls seldom use acondom," she said. Customers are not willing to use condoms, she said. "Ifwe use it, they feel that we are sex workers." Sou Sotheavy, director of the Men and Women Network forDevelopment, said 100 percent condom use had been made impossible by the newlaw, which forces sex workers to move from one place to another, from thestreets and parks to nightclubs. The moving targets make it difficult to promotecondom use, he said. "How can the condom be used 100 percent," he said."Even in a proper brothel it was not possible. Then what about such abrief liaison at the public garden, and with the police giving chase?" Keo Tha is the director of the Women's Network for Unity.The new law has not only put sex workers at risk of HIV, but it is hurtingtheir livelihoods, she said. "Why are they not allowed to be sex workers? What are theydoing wrong?" she said. "When the business is more strict, HIV/AIDSis more widespread." Police say the new law has allowed them to put order to thestreets, making them safer for travelers. Yim Socheat, police chief of Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district, said policehad no intention of driving down the use of condoms. Officers arrest sex workers with or without condoms, hesaid, adding that any recent decrease in condom use was due toconfusion by the sex workers. The conflict between the two groups is not necessary, saidDr. Ly Cheng Huy, director of the HIV/AIDS Alliance. Both sides should understand each other, hesaid. Otherwise, the implementation of the law won't be undertaken properly,leading to a rise in HIV and AIDS. Meanwhile, the government is working on an initiative tomake police understand that sex workers are victims, not offenders, said You Oy, secretary of state for the Ministry of Women's Affairs. However, she added, sex workers must not solicit from publicplaces or the street. Such acts not only impact social order, she said, but alsoCambodian tradition.