Crime in Cambodia

Cambodian police car in Phnom Penh

Crime is present in various forms in Cambodia.

Crime by type

Murder

In 2017, Cambodia had a homicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 population.[1]

Robbery

Petty crime is common, with tourist areas often targeted. This includes snatch theft and pick-pocketing. Perpetrators are usually stricken with poverty, and as a result are driven to steal from foreigners with the knowledge that they bring about a significant amount of money and other valuable items. Owing to the easy accessibility of arms, armed robbery also occurs.[2]

Corruption

The rate of corruption in Cambodia is high; one source goes on to describe the situation as "nothing less than obscene". Corruption is considered a large expense to the Cambodian government.[3] The Cambodian police force is known to inappropriately use violence in certain cases.[4] The misuse of ferocity has raised concerns from the Human Rights Watch.[5]

Prostitution

Prostitution is against the law in Cambodia, but still present and only growing. Le Thi Quy, a professor from the Women's Research Center, interviewed a handful of females in 1993 about prostitution; three quarters of the interviewees found being a prostitute to be a norm and a profession they felt was not shameful having.[6] That same year, the professor estimated that there were some one hundred thousand sex workers in the country.[6]

Sex trafficking

Cambodian citizens, primarily women and girls, have been sex trafficked within the country and throughout the world.[7] They are threatened and forced into prostitution, marriages, and or pregnancies.[8]

Illegal logging

Illegal logging poses a large threat to Cambodia's forests. It allows for undocumented and unauthorized deforestation in which allows for the exploitation of Cambodia's forests. There are many cases in which the military carries out illegal logging without knowledge from the government. It is difficult for central government officials to visit areas still controlled by former Pol Pot forces.[9] Illegal commercial timber interests take advantage of weak law enforcement to benefit from illegal cutting. The majority of illegal deforestation is done by the military and powerful sub-contractors.[10]

See also

• Drugs in Cambodia

References

1. Global Study on Homicide. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013.
2. "Cambodia". travel.state.gov. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
3. Curtis, Grant (1998). Cambodia Reborn?: The Transition to Democracy and Development. Brookings Institution Press. pp. 147–. ISBN 9780815791379.
4. "Protest Claims Police Brutality in Cambodian Home". 95.5 WBRU. January 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
5. "Cambodia: Escalating Violence, Misuse of Courts". Human Rights Watch. February 1, 2013.
6. Barry, Kathleen (1996). The Prostitution of Sexuality. NYU Press. pp. 137–. ISBN 9780814712771.
7. "Cambodia UN ACT". UN ACT.
8. "Inside the world of Cambodia's child sex trade, as told through the eyes of a survivor". ABC News. March 8, 2017.
9. Ikunaga, Meguri. The Forest Issue in Cambodia : Current Situation and Problems : An Analysis Based on Field Research. Occasional Paper. Tokyo: Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, International Development Research Institute, 1999. Print.
10. Hansen, Kasper K., and Neth Top. Natural Forest Benefits and Economic Analysis of Natural Forest Conversion in Cambodia. Working paper no. 33. Phnom Penh: Cambodia Development Resource Institute, 2006. Print.