Can CEDAW Article 6 Transform a Broken Girl into a Precious Gem?

Abstract

Resumé Prostitution exists all over the world, in different shapes and in different cultural contexts. Observing prostitution today, in any part of the world, reveals a picture of much coercion, violence and exploitation of women and children but seldom of men. There is an international agreement to change the situation, expressed in CEDAW Article 6. But, as cultures differ and ideas differ, there is no uniform approach on how to act in order to change these suppressive social structures and patterns. The focus of our thesis is the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Article 6 in a national context. The national context in this study is represented by the Kingdom of Cambodia, and we are examining how the suppression of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women in accordance with CEDAW Article 6 are promoted and worked with in this specific country. CEDAW Article 6 reads: "State Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women." The main purpose of this study is to examine how Cambodia has acknowledged this, and what measures has been taken to fulfil Cambodia's undertaking of Article 6. The study examines how exploitation of prostitution and trafficking is handled in legislation and other measures taken by the Cambodian government as well as measures by other actors such as Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and International Organisations (IOs). The study is based on a fieldstudy in Cambodia between February and May 2002.