Story

Cambodia's Legacy and the Fight Against Human Trafficking

November 24, 2013 | Pulitzer Center
By
Melisa Goss, for the Pulitzer Center

A child sits in front of Angkor Wat near Siem Reap, Cambodia. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Bullet holes on the outer wall of Angkor Wat. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, the Chao Ponhea Yat High School was turned into a prison. Now known as Toul Sleng, or S-21, the prison has become a museum to commemorate those lost during Pol Pot’s regime. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Prisoners were locked in small cells, their ankles clasped in iron shackles. A small metal box was used as a latrine. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Hallways once filled with the chatter of students were walled off with barbed wire to ensure the prisoners could not escape. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

One survivor of the Khmer Rouge paints pictures of the torture he and his fellow citizens were forced to endure. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Farmers still use wagons pulled by oxen or water buffalo to haul in their crops in rural Cambodia. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Children in the rural areas of Cambodia are often the most at risk for human trafficking. Here, A 12 year-old girl brings her cousin home on her bike. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Non-government organizations such as World Hope International are bringing economic development and the promotion of social justice to rural Cambodia. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

A Cambodian woman shows her mushroom harvest for the day. Having learned how to grow mushrooms from World Hope International, this woman has doubled her yearly income. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Mushrooms grown by rural Cambodians provide extra income for families, often allowing children to be able to go to school. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Empty swings at World Hope International’s assessment center demonstrate the loss of innocence these young girls have suffered. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Funding is a constant concern for many NGOs. Here the employees of World Hope International assessment center, where young girls who have been trafficked or raped are taken for evaluation and counseling, are celebrating. They have just learned the center would not be closed due to lack of finances. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

A mural on the wall at World Hope International. Image by Melisa Goss. Cambodia, 2013.

Often a symbol of hope and transformation, this butterfly near Kampong Cham, Cambodia, is a reminder that there is life after injustice.

Beginning in the 9th century, the Khmer Empire ruled the bulk of Southeast Asia. The great Hindu temple Angkor Wat and its surrounding cities, in what is modern-day Cambodia, were the economic and religious center of a bustling empire.

During the 15th century the empire and the temples fell into ruin and the nation later found itself a battleground between Thailand and Vietnam.

Set on returning Cambodia to an entirely self-dependent state, Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge (the Communist party in Cambodia) took over the kingdom on January 1, 1975. His regime desecrated many of the nation’s holy sites and oversaw the deaths of between one and three million people. The effects of Pol Pot’s regime can still be felt in Cambodia today; it has set the nation’s development back several decades.

Many of Cambodia’s rural poor live in much the same manner as their ancestors of the Angkor Period. With these families often making less than $1,000 per year, young women and girls are often at risk of being trafficked to other cities or surrounding countries.

NGOs from around the world are stepping in to aid in economic development and the promotion of social justice. By providing micro-loans, job training, education and counseling, they give hope to those who have been victims—and for those most a brighter hope for the future.