PHNOM PENH - The virgin sex trade in Cambodia has been more rampant than ever where girls ages 12-18 are sold for a sum of around US$500-US$2,000.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that among the 40,000-100,000 workers in the local sex industry, one third are children.

Like Us on Facebook

Poverty stricken, nearly half of the population lives on less than US$2 a day, UNICEF added. Weak law enforcement and corruption reigns and people are also haunted by the country's turbulent history, which helped Cambodia earn a reputation of being a global center for pedophiles.

Local men and even rich buyers from China, Thailand and Singapore purchase virgins through "brokers", where girls are arranged to be delivered at discreet locations.

Outside Phnom Penh, the Svay Pak brothel area continues to exploit children and despite numerous efforts to close it down by the police, the demand for virgins and underage sex is still massive.

In a more dismal note, even mothers even resort to selling their own daughter's virginity and safety. In a heartbreaking account told to the Guardian, Dara Keo, 18 retold her story where her mother, Rotana, allegedly offered her virginity when she was just 12.

After receiving the amount of US $500 to pay off her father's gambling debts, Dara continues to work in a brothel. The arrangements were made through their female neighbors who are apparently "brokers".

Upon selling her virginity, the broker accompanied her to the doctor to check if she still has her virginity intact along with HIV blood tests. She then meets her buyer in an exclusive hotel room where he has sex with her 2-3 times a day during that week. The man's is allegedly a local politician.

A senior police officer agreed to give information to the Guardian but he relates how he was discouraged by "people high up" not to pursue cases about the virgin sex trade and rape. He also says that only men in power or those who are wealthy have the capacity and connections to buy virgins.

In Cambodian and other Asian cultures, usually men over 50, believe that sex with virgins can give them magical powers for virility and eternal youth. According to Chhiv Kek Pung, president of Cambodia's leading human rights organization Licadho, local men aren't particular about the virgin's age or even beauty, as long as she is pure.

More so, even if sex work and trafficking are illegal in Cambodia, it is often seen not as a crime for women and children but regarded as a social shame. The chbab srey or "Women's Law" is a Khmer belief system where women should follow a code of duty and obedience. It also dictates that women must obey and help their parents no matter what and this blurs the line of this moral issue.

Pung adamantly insists that awareness, education and a strong political will to fight this invisible plague is needed to fight against powerful people behind Cambodia's virginity sex trade and even to counter these cultural factors as well.

Despite all this, the efforts of the Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children's Rights are not to be overlooked. They currently house over 100 underage and women sex workers who are undergoing rehabilitation in Phnom Penh and Svay Rieng.

Tagsvirginity for sale in cambodia, virgins for sale, virgin sex trade, sex with minors, mothers sell their daughters virginity, sex in cambodia, virgins for sale china, virgin sex, asian virgins for sale, china virgins, cambodia virgins