Quick Hit: Cambodia Fights Human Trafficking Through Marriage Law
Cambodian officials have suspended all marriages between foreigners and locals in response to growing concerns about human trafficking detailed in an International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report. The article reads:
Some 1,759 marriage visas were issued by South Korea in 2007, up from just 72 in 2004, the report said. While no systematic exploitation was uncovered, several cases of abuse did raise a red flag with the government, said You Ay, secretary of state with the Women's Affairs Ministry...You Ay commented that the ban, which was approved last week, would be lifted after the government developed a legal framework to address mixed marriages. "This suspension is to prevent human trafficking through marriage," she said, adding that while the brides often receive as little as USD 1,000, agencies can make tens of thousands of dollars on each marriage.
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It's hard to ferret out who has good and bad intentions, this will be a difficult undertaking for them. However, I was surprised by the number of men who think the answer to their problems is to go and find a nice,subservient,woman who can't speak English and is entirely dependent upon them. I'm happy to see some action being taken about the issues of sex slavery and tourism and I'll be interested to see how legislation evolves to better protect the women who are being abused and taken advantage of while acknowledging those who are making genuine connections with foreign men.
Apparently I've misinterpreted the story a bit (I missed the part about South Korea issuing the marriage licenses). My understanding is that Cambodia is significantly less industrialized than South Korea which makes me think the power dynamic between better off men and less well off women is still the intent to create a dependence and to intentionally seek out women with less agency.
Cambodia is significantly less developed than South Korea and the fears of abuse are in some cases justified but this marriage ban is yet another instance of the government interfering in private lives for the sake of 'public morality'.
Cambodia is a source of human trafficking and women's rights are not respected among the majority but the police are involved in the trafficking. They have been known to raid NGOs after the NGOs raid brothels for underage girls and send the underage girls back to the brothels.
South Korean and Chinese men are seeking Cambodian brides less for the subservient aspect and more to do with the preference for male children. The abortion of female foetus's and the exposure of female children is coming back to bite them in the ass. There are simply not enough women. It is becoming a serious problem in parts of Asia.
Cambodian women are really not submissive despite the lack of rights or any sort of gender equality.
From where I sit, the marriage ban will accomplish nothing but this is an election year and the government and especially the prime minister has to be seen to be doing something!
Saorla,
Thanks for setting me straight. I couldn't really see how the law would change anything, but hoped it was a sign of an increasing awareness.