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Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Child Domestic Workers and Patterns of Trafficking in Cambodia

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IOM Report on Trafficking Finds Child Domestic Workers at High Risk of Abuse.

"Child domestic workers are at high risk of physical and sexual abuse, finds a report released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Entitled, “Out of sight, out of mind? Child domestic workers and trafficking in Cambodia”, the report finds that child domestic workers often have little social protection or support, and are often forced to work in desperate conditions.

Child domestic workers are often forced to work long hours without pay, and may be kept in debt bondage to their employers. This places them at higher risk of physical and sexual abuse, the report concluded. Female domestic workers are also at high risk of being raped by male members of the household. Up to 18% of former domestic workers interviewed had experienced attempted raped, and 10% had actually been raped, the report found.

The report found that girls are often recruited into households to do domestic chores, such as cleaning and looking after children. They often work long hours with little rest and no social support. Many described strong feelings of homesickness and loneliness.

Child domestic workers also appear to be at higher risk of later becoming sex workers, the report found. Over 50% of sex workers interviewed were former child domestic workers. Their lack of access to education as domestic workers means that they face a higher risk of migrating to other unskilled professions, such as sex work.

IOM released the report to both government and civil society partners, working in counter-trafficking in Cambodia. “We hope that we can take these findings and really talk about how to tackle the vulnerability of child domestic workers in Cambodia,” said the report’s author, Ellie Brown.

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Child Domestic Workers and Patterns of Trafficking in Cambodia