The 5
Faces of Oppression
Exploitation
The act of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work
Exploitation can manifest through the type of trafficking the child is forced into, child labour being one of the most common forms of trafficking. Children are exploited for the work they are forced to complete often in unsafe and unsanitary working conditions with little pay. In other forms of trafficking, children's bodies or innocence are exploited for work in unethical ways, in which they are compensated for very little.
Impacted Occupations
Education
Participation in formal and informal education are occupations most frequently denied to Cambodian children due to their responsibility to work and assist in providing for their family. Children exploited for domestic servitude and forced labour can suffer physical injuries, develop emotional health problems, and be denied access to an education. A study on health and human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion reported that 39% of trafficked children have gone through primary school (Ottisova, 2018). Without access to formal education, children grow up to be under-qualified for jobs that would enable them to leave the harsh environment they grew up in and therefore be at a reduced risk of trafficking.
Play
Children who are exploited for their work in factories or brothels suffer the loss of many “normal” childhood experiences, including play exploration and participation. Cambodian children who are sold or manipulated into trafficking systems are expected to trade childhood occupations such as play to work and meet the demands of their abusers. Children are not given time or access to opportunities to engage in play as they are forced to work long hours. Children are also living in a state of fear and exhaustion, therefore less likely to engage in these activities.
Marginalization
Treatment of a person, group, or concept that are subjected to material depreciation and expelled form useful participation in social life, which may result in exclusion and views of insignificance
Children who fall victim to trafficking are removed from their known social life, provided with very little in terms of material objects, and are prevented from engaging in many normal occupations that children typically use to learn their role in life. In many cities with high trafficking percentages, children are trafficked from neighboring villages during the dry seasons to work while their families are unable to farm and profit from their land. Victims of trafficking are at risk of marginalization not only during the time they are trafficked, but also prior to being trafficked. Also, if they are able to escape the system they may be at risk as they reintegrate into society.
Impacted Occupations
Community Participation
Children (mainly female) who were trafficked sex workers may only leave their home envirnoment for a short period of time before returning and attempting to reintegrate into their past life. It was found that many of these girls attempt to keep the nature of their former work a secret from those around them. However, in many communities this can lead to marginalization as their community may suspect the reasoning for why they left, leading to stigmatizing and isolating the girls from engaging with their community (Mbakogu, 2020).
Family Participation
Participation in family life teaches children many lessons during their childhood about the roles that they play in the family dynamic. In addition, family participation may also teach children about the values held in their family or culture. Interaction with the family unit helps shape different aspects of who the child grows up to be. Children who are subjected to trafficking are denied this ability to grow and learn in a safe environment.
Violence
Random, unprovoked attacks on their persons or property, which have no motive but to damage, humiliate, or destroy the person
Violence is one way in which children are forced into being trafficked. Traffickers may use threats of violence towards an individual or their family in order to make a child feel that they must do as the trafficker says in order to remain safe. In a study that conducted interviews with 1,102 individuals who had been trafficked, 35.5% of children reported suffering from some form of physical or sexual abuse (Derks, 1998).
Impacted Occupations
Emotional Health Management
Exposure to violence is an established predictor of psychological morbidity in children more generally and has been found to be a risk factor for depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in trafficked children in contact with post-trafficking services (Rafferty, 2008).
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PTSD (22%)
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Severe Stress Disorders (14%)
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Non Specific Emotional Disorders (19%)
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History of Self Harm (33%)
* Based on a study conducted on 51 trafficked children receiving reintegration services​
Community Participation
If an abuser is using violence as a method of manipulating or forcing children or families into trafficking, families are likely to avoid situations in which they may be at risk of violence. This avoidance leads to reduced interaction with the community, and fear of leaving spaces in which they feel safe. When/If children are freed from the trafficking system, the violence they have endured often becomes a source of PTSD that they continue to carry with them as they reintegrate. For children who were trafficked by a perpetrator using violence as a recruiting tactic, it can be extremely difficult to return to "normal life" in their community that at one point did not feel safe (Ottisova, 2018).
Powerlessness
People in the societies that do not regularly participate in making decisions that affect the conditions of their lives and actions, and lack significant power
Bonded prostitution or labor is a form of trafficking that displays how powerlessness can be used as a form of oppression. It is used to describe when a family will sell a child or young woman to a person for the promise of a job in exchange for cash. In these cases, the children have no say in this decision that is being made as they are expected to respect and adhere to the decisions made by their parents (Tumlim, 2000).
Impacted Occupations
Friendships
It is important for children to have opportunities to form friendships as this occupation teaches them many lessons about relationships and playing with others, which will translate to social skills later in life. Children sold into trafficking are taken away from any friendships they are building in their home communities as they are often trafficked across large distances or across country borders. These children are often barred from forming strong new friendships in the setting they are forced into. Many children struggle to trust in friendships and relationships as many were sold by family or manipulated into being trafficked by individuals they once felt close to.
Employment interests/pursuits
Employment may not be an occupation typically thought of when considering children, but in the case of these children's forced occupation is what dominates most of their lives. Many children are sold into trafficking with the aim to provide for their family or repay a debt that is owed (Tumlin, 2000). They are powerless in this decision as they are looked at as property for their parents to manage. Even in instances when they are freed from trafficking, some girls are unable to find work or be married into a family due to the stigma around the "work" they did when in the trafficking system. Again leaving them powerless in their society, and leading them to be more likely to return to prostitution to survive.
Cultural Imperialism
Having a dominant culture in an areas and not being a part of that culture makes you an “other” or part of an outgroup
Children of ethical minority groups are overall a more vulnerable population at risk of being trafficked. Children living in “hill-villages” are trafficked into urban areas to become sex workers or join beggar gangs (Tumlin, 2000). Additionally, countless children are trafficked across country borders to areas that have differing dominant religious and cultures than that of the childrens' home.
Impacted Occupations
Spiritual and Religious Expression
Due to their age, many children may not understand their way in which their culture influences their lives. Therefore those of a minority group who have been trafficked across countries or out of their country of origin, may be influenced by the culture of the area they are trafficked to. Children who are apart of a cultural minority group may experience additional scrutiny or acts of neglect due to their religious beliefs or behaviors that stem from their original culture. Abusers are also likely to use religion as a way to control the children, and manipulate them (United Nations, 2009). Due to this, these children are less likely to engage in spiritual expression and cultural activities out of fear. Children grow up without opportunities to grow in their religious practices, or are forced to partake in those that are not of their family culture/religion.
Click here to learn more about culture of Cambodia
Peer Group Participation
As stated previously, children who have been trafficked are not afforded the time and opportunity to engage in play and learning with their peers. When children have been trafficked far from their home, they face cultural imperialism from the community they have been forced into. Practicing a religion different to that of the area these children have been trafficked into can be looked down upon by the community. Thus, these children may be treated like outsiders and refrained from playing with others (Derks, 1998). Children who are forced into working factories, or young girls who are sold to brothels are often only able to interact with other children that they work with.
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References
Derks, A. (1998). Trafficking of Vietnamese women and children to Cambodia.International Organization for Migration.
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Tumlin, K.C. (2000). Trafficking in children in Asia; a regional overview. Institute for Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University.
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Kiss, L., Pocock, N. S., Naisanguansri, V., Suos, S., Dickson, B., Thuy, D., Koehler, J., Sirisup, K., Pongrungsee, N., Nguyen, V. A., Borland, R., Dhavan, P., & Zimmerman, C. (2015).
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Health of men, women, and children in post-trafficking services in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam: An observational cross-sectional study. The Lancet Global Health, 3(3).
https://doi.org/10.1016/s2214-109x(15)70016-1
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Mbakogu, I. (2020). Validating children 's stories and decisions after trafficking for prostitution. Indonesian Journal of Social and Environmental Issues (IJSEI), 1(2), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.47540/ijsei.v1i2.23
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Ottisova, L., Smith, P., Shetty, H., Stahl, D., Downs, J., & Oram, S. (2018). Psychological consequences of child trafficking: An historical cohort study of trafficked children in contact with secondary mental health services. PLOS ONE, 13(3).
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192321
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Rafferty, Y. (2008). The impact of trafficking on children: Psychological and social policy perspectives. Child Development Perspectives, 2(1), 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00035.x
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United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. (n.d.). Global report on trafficking in persons. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/global-report-on-trafficking-in-persons.html.
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United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. (2009). Anti-human trafficking manual for criminal justice practitioners Module 4: Control methods in trafficking in persons. https://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/TIP_module4_Ebook.pdf
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U.S. Department of State. (2021). 2021 Trafficking in persons report: Cambodia. https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/cambodia/.