“Holly January 9, 2009 · 2:25 pm

Mr. Kristoff:
If you are interested in writing about the sex industry in Cambodia, I urge you to also write about how sex workers have been arrested and subsequently gang raped, robbed, and beaten by police and guards in a Cambodian detention center under U.S. imposed anti-prostitution legislation. At least three sex workers have died in police custody due to being denied needed medical care. Ironically, fighting human trafficking was the rational given for this anti-prostitution legislation that has resulted in major human rights abuses. I ask: Since when does gang raping sex workers stop human trafficking? It is essential to look for progressive and effective solutions to stopping human trafficking, rather than using human trafficking as a tool to promote oppressive anti-prostitutuion laws that harm sex workers.”

A pretty good comment on that article:

“Aid Worker in Phnom Penh January 12, 2009 · 2:03 am

I appreciate Mr. Kristof’s efforts to raise awareness of this terrible human rights situation and of the genuine concern many posters have expressed on this comments page. However, I think some should be reminded that a thousand word column cannot possibly present the whole story.

There is a big gap between public perceptions of “action” and actual anti-trafficking efforts. This is not a black and white situation unfortunately (though I would not claim that Mr. Kristof has necessarily presented it this way, he has missed some key points). For example, Kristof writes here that the Trafficking Victims Protection Act has “led to the possibility of sanctions against countries that tolerate trafficking.” However, we all know that the U.S. Government acts in its own interest, and sometimes that means putting aside good intentions for the sake of allies. Israel has a terrible trafficking record that has quite obviously been down-played by the State Department in its reports. EU countries and other western allies also have trafficking problems, particularly the former Soviet bloc countries.

In Cambodia, Mr. Kristof rightly praises the Cambodian government for passing anti-trafficking legislation. This was an historic step in relative terms. But the implementation of this legislation has not been entirely successful. The police have used it as an excuse to crack down on sex workers and pimps, but often it is the brothel owners that get away with a simple bribe while the sex workers are rounded up and sent to jail. There have been numerous reports of abuses, including rape, of these legally and socially excluded women at the hands of the police. Many sex workers have now gone underground and as a consequence health NGOs here in Cambodia have lost track of sex workers they have been monitoring for years, leaving these women more vulnerable to HIV. I would argue that the death of (former Cambodian Chief of Police) Hok Lundy, considered one of the more dangerous men in SE Asia, in late 2008 did more to contribute to anti-trafficking efforts in Cambodia than any piece of legislation any could in this corrupt country. In short, my point is that there are many sides to this issue and for obvious reasons we cannot forget to explore the possible consequences of seemingly benevolent action.”

Also,

“Habilis January 12, 2009 · 9:37 am

Also, Aid Worker, now that the Phnom Penh police have cracked down, the sex workers have stopped carrying condoms because the possession of such would implicate them in a crime.

Mr. Kristof, your fascination with this topic of teenage sex is curious, but the appeal to America’s prurient interest will sell newspapers, of course.

Surely more of Cambodia’s youth are at more serious risk from the unexploded ordinance and land mines that your government left all over the countryside. Surely a lot of Cambodian pathology can resulted after your military cut and ran. (Leaving millions to die at the hands of the Maoist Khmer Rouge and subsequent Communist Vietnamese invaders.)

I also think you are being somewhat manipulated by certain people who have vested interests in gaining the sympathies and thus the funding of programs to stop this trade. Sure, there is prostitution in Cambodia, but not NEARLY as much as in your city of New York! You can also believe what you want, but a “call girl” that comes to a penthouse in NYC likely has her Russian “driver” waiting outside and will be “protected” from losing her way home.

Perhaps you should also investigate the (foreign-owned)garment factories in Cambodia that also exploit the Khmer women. I am sure you will find that many of the garment workers spend their evenings as sex workers to make ends meet.

Most of Cambodia is a rather polite and traditional society, with values and morals that materialistic Americans could never aspire to. You make the country look horrible, but Cambodia is a beautiful place full of hope. Certainly, development of a nation often involves some unsavory things, even America had slavery, child labor, genocide of the indigenous people, etc., etc.

Please stop exploiting Cambodia for your newspaper. Maybe you should write more about the women trafficked into NYC. Here is a hint, look in the NYC phone book under “Escorts” and tell us what you find. Or, would it be better if a Cambodian reporter investigated the massive prostitution trade in NYC and published it in a Cambodian paper.”

He just has a really twisted, wrong view of his opposition as being sex workers who are so privileged (coming from him, that’s quite something to say, no?) that this talk of “rights” is silliness, because who cares about whatever those sex workers are harping on if they don’t play into Kristof’s savior-image and ego? I mean, his conception of “rescue” is raiding brothels and imprisoning women and opening them up to horrible institutional abuses – the man’s not a very deep thinker, and his conception of those he’d deign to rescue is that they must be less so – definitely not capable of talking back.

In response to comments on a 2009 column of his on Long Pross – the girl under Somaly Mam’s care who was made to lie about the removal of a tumor from her eye, and to say that a brothel owner gouged it out, he says: “The bottom line is that, sure, some prostitutes work voluntarily. My concern isn’t what consenting adults do. But the fact that there are some women who choose to sell sex doesn’t mitigate the horror of 14-year-old girls kidnapped and locked up in brothels until they get AIDS. Millions of girls today are kidnapped and enslaved, particularly in countries like India, Pakistan, Cambodia and Malaysia.” He then goes on to talk up the TIP office, because when it comes to the abuses that have been enacted by that office and by foreign governments at its behest, Nicholas Kristof has been a participant. His view of “taking action” is entirely backwards. http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/your-comments-on-my-sunday-column/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0