QUIET DESPERATION
Endentured child prostitution in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's Svay Pak district
Vietnamese girls Cai and Thuy are seen inside a brothel at Svay Pak, Cambodia. Victims of underage sex trafficking, both girls agreed to travel to Cambodia after being promised hotel jobs but ended up being forced into prostitution. Cai is 15, Thuy is 14.
Thuy appears on the verge of tears inside her room at Svay Pak, Cambodia, as she explains how her captors threatened to kill her and her family if she resisted being forced into prostitution.
Vietnamese girls wait for customers inside the lobby of a brothel in Svay Pak, Cambodia. All victims of underage sex trafficking, the girls range in age from 13 to 16. The brothel's "mamasan," at right, is only 17.
Vietnamese girls Cai and Thuy watch for customers just inside the entrance to a brothel at Svay Pak, Cambodia. The girls were told by the brothel owner that they would be sent back home once they had earned enough money to "pay their dues" but were not told how much they'd have to pay.
Vietnamese girls Cai and Thuy are seen inside their room in a brothel at Svay Pak, Cambodia. Both girls contemplated suicide shortly after their arrival, but decided not to follow through out of fear their families would be killed if they did not pay what the sex traffickers said they owe.
The notorious underage brothels at Svay Pak just outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were shut down (at least temporarily) by the government shortly after these photos were published, thanks to an international backlash against the country for allowing such an evil place to exist.