Human Trafficking and Moral Panic in Cambodia

This article examines the backgrounds of traffickers in Cambodia: why they became involved in trafficking, how they operate, their earnings, and the criminal justice system's response to their activities. Our research draws from interviews with justice officials, NGOs, and detained alleged traf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2014-05, Vol.653 (1), p.202-224
Main Authors: KEO, CHENDA, BOUHOURS, THIERRY, BROADHURST, RODERIC, BOUHOURS, BRIGITTE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brothels
Cambodia
Corruption
Corruption in government
Criminal Justice
Females
Forced prostitution
Foreign Aid
Human Trafficking
Judicial process
Kidnapping
Law
Legitimation
Moral Panic
Nongovernmental organizations
Organized crime
Panic
Police
Political science
Prisons
Sex trafficking
Slavery
Smuggling
Traffic laws
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Summary:This article examines the backgrounds of traffickers in Cambodia: why they became involved in trafficking, how they operate, their earnings, and the criminal justice system's response to their activities. Our research draws from interviews with justice officials, NGOs, and detained alleged traffickers; and from a review of police and prison records. The results challenge alarmist claims about the high prevalence, profitability, or role of organized crime in human trafficking. In Cambodia, 80 percent of incarcerated traffickers are poor uneducated women who lack legitimate opportunities and whose unsophisticated illicit activities earn very little. We argue that the Cambodian government, in return for foreign aid, adopted a repressive law that defines human trafficking ineptly; in the hands of a dysfunctional justice system, the law has turned into an instrument of corruption and injustice against powerless individuals.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716214521376