In Cambodia, human trafficking is a major issue. Even though human trafficking is illegal, Cambodia is a popular tourist destination for the purpose of human trafficking. The two most prevalent demographics being trafficked in Cambodia are girls for sex slavery and men for forced labor. According to the Global Slavery Index, 16.8 people out of every 1,000 in Cambodia’s population is living in modern slavery, which is about 260,000 people. Cambodia’s prevalence for slavery is ninth in the world. The majority of human trafficking in Cambodia is sex trafficking. While some girls are kidnapped and forced to be sex slaves, many girls are sold into sex slavery by family to gain extra money.
This past June, the United States reported that if Cambodia does not seriously begin to address human trafficking, then the United States will impose economic sanctions. Law enforcement is not strict on human trafficking; most perpetrators often go free. In the past, Cambodia worked to decrease human trafficking in its casino’s after it was put on the Tier 2 Wach List in the Trafficking In Persons report, one step from Tier 3 which allows for foreign interference. The work Cambodia did following the report was enough to push it back up to Tier 2; however, the United States anticipates the ranking to fall again. A major factor that Cambodia needs to address is cross-border trafficking into China, but Cambodia and China have a close, complex relationship.
In Cambodia, there are many local and international NGOs working to stop human trafficking, such as Agape International Missions. The most common measure these NGOs implement are shelters for those wishing to escape human trafficking. However, there is only one center funded by the government, and there is not a shelter for male victims. Government funding is severely limited, and there are no standards for shelters or rehabilitation in place. The next Trafficking In Persons report will have a large influence on Cambodia’s prevention of human trafficking.
In “Born Free”, Sustainable Development Goals are said to address human trafficking in response to the UN Millenium Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals address human trafficking through “integrated programming” which adds an anti-trafficking component to already funded programs such as agriculture, health, and education. The Outcome Document includes several goals that directly address human trafficking, as well as several subgoals that may have indirect positive impacts on the fight to end human trafficking.
Artificial Intelligence is an industry in need of more diversity. Because AI is developed by uniform, typically male, engineers, an invention that should be neutral may have a bias in decision making. By encouraging AI engineers to work closely with others from different backgrounds and including more women and engineers from underrepresented backgrounds, AI may not be quite as one-sided. Fei-Fei Li has helped implement camps to encourage girls to become interested in STEM and AI development.
globalslaveryindex.org/2018/data/country-data/cambodia
phnompenhpost.com/national/slavery-and-human-trafficking-cambodia
un-act.org/cambodia/
reuters.com/article/us-usa-trafficking-cambodia/u-s-sees-cambodias-anti-trafficking-efforts-floundering-idUSKCN1TL21Q
wired.com/story/fei-fei-li-artificial-intelligence-humanity/
Globalization: Asia 