The impoverished Southeast Asian nation has long been a destination for sex tourists, with minors often the victims of a flesh trade aided by endemic corruption. A CNN report broadcast on 25 July featured three girls who were reportedly rescued from the sex trade by Agape International Missions (AIM), a charity founded by an American pastor which has been operating in the country since 1988. Until a crackdown in the early 2000s Svay Pak hosted a huge red light district notorious for child sex slaves and the documentary showed the trade still existed a decade on. The head of the charity, American pastor Don Brewster, was quoted in last week's report as saying that Svay Pak was "at one point the epicentre" of the child sex trade. The network did not respond to an AFP request for comment but told the Cambodia Daily it "stood by its reporting".

Source: The Nation Bangkok August 01, 2017 10:52 UTC