At 9 PM on Tuesday, August 29th, officers from the Phnom Penh Department of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Police (AHTJP) supported by AIM SWAT officers conducted a raid at a brothel fronting as a massage parlor in central Phnom Penh.
The raid followed a lengthy covert investigation which confirmed that young girls were being regularly sold inside the brothel. During the raid, 2 minors and 4 women were rescued and the brothel manager was arrested. AIM Social Workers were there on the scene shortly after the rescues to help the girls and women who shared about being sold for sex to customers to the profit of the manager. Unbelievably, the manager subsequently denied any wrongdoing.
Given the weight of evidence against the manager, she was taken to court and now faces charges of child sex trafficking. Both young girls have been transferred to AIM Restoration Home for aftercare services. Three of the rescued women chose to accept aftercare services at one of AIM’s Transitional Homes and have been welcomed there.
AIM’s legal team will provide free legal counsel throughout the court process for each of the survivors in this case.
