Invisible Chains Read Online Free PDF Page B

by. Inside we found a windowless room with an old fake-leather sofa and a “loveseat.” A lamp stood in one corner and a disco light overhead spread its random sparkles throughout the room.
    For an hour, we drank Heineken and sang horrible renditions of Céline Dion songs as the mama-san began sending some of the young girls into the room. The local human rights investigator with us was fluent in Khmer. He spoke to the young girls while we continued to give performances of songs that would have earned us a swift rejection from American Idol. In hushed tones, he confirmed that underage girls were being held and exploited in this karaoke-brothel. They were glad that we were planning to get word to the police about this secret den of exploitation. Yet we were careful not to encourage false hope— better than we, they knew the odds of intervention were extremely low.
    Thanks to lack of resources, widespread corruption, and broad acceptance of the sex tourism industry by many officials, the local authorities pursued few cases, even though serious criminal offences were being committed contrary to Cambodian law. In some cases, however, pressure from an international NGO like ours could help. So the next day, we used our reports from that evening to encourage the local prosecutor to launch an official investigation into the karaoke bar–brothel and rescue the underage girls caged there.
    Generally, only the most egregious cases involving extremely young victims, such as those under ten, or cases involving severe physical violence would spur recalcitrant police and prosecutors to proceed with a rescue. Whatever local officials think of the practice, sex tourism brings millions of dollars in foreign currency to Cambodia, a country in dire economic straits. What would replace this money stream if the attraction vanished overnight? Compared with neighbouring countries like Thailand, Cambodia has little toattract tourists beyond Angkor Wat, the twelfth-century temple sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, which appears on the country’s flag. Cambodia is ranked as the 187th-poorest country on the planet with a per capita weekly income of U.S.$36.50. Yet the average price paid by foreign sex offenders for the virginity of an underage girl is U.S.$300–$700. With that kind of economic incentive for sex trafficking, only the most moral and courageous officials choose to demand an end to the racket, or at least prosecute the most offensive brothel keepers.
    Occasionally a case actually moves forward, and we hoped our reports would lead to at least some girls being rescued and given a fresh start at one of the few recovery centres in the city.
    We applied as much pressure as possible on authorities, encouraged those who continued to operate the recovery centres, helped improve programs to assist those who were rescued, and, in our own ways, prayed for the girls who remained enslaved.
    That was almost ten years ago, and the image of those young girls inside that glass prison continues to disturb me.
    Sexual abuse at home and abroad
    Those who travel beyond Canada’s borders to pursue their sexual abuse of children and women don’t always restrict these repugnant actions to foreign locations. Donald Bakker didn’t.
    Crab Park was created as an urban oasis for residents of Vancouver’s poor and crime-ridden Downtown Eastside. With old railway tracks to the south, commercial shipping ports to the east, and the sea bus terminal to the west, Crab Park may not be the most scenic and inviting public space in Vancouver, but for various reasons it has become a focal point for sexual exploitation issues. A park bench overlooking Burrard Inlet bears a plaque with the names of missing prostituted women. A local newspaper speculated that “some of the missing women may have found temporary respite here from the daily terror of their lives,” but the opposite appears to be true. For a time, an isolated forested area