Cambodia's virgin prostitutes: Sex traffickers and pimps target untouched girls thanks to spike in wealthy men willing to pay up to $3,000 to sleep with them

  5 November 2014

Virginity is a valuable commodity in Cambodia and other Asian countries

Men will pay thousands of dollars to have sex with an untouched girl 
Many of the encounters are arranged by female pimps called 'mamasans' 
New Jodie Marsh documentary is to shine spotlight on virgin trafficking 

Now the shocking story of Cambodia's virgin prostitutes is to feature in a new Jodie Marsh documentary which meets some of the victims.

Although her own career was built on selling sex as a glamour model, the 35-year-old says she is grateful she never had to do more than sell pictures of her body.

'Girls like Sukhon are forced to sell themselves for money time and time again,' she said. 'I have the choice to abstain from sex and I have realised what a huge privilege that is.'

23-year-old Sukhon lives in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and now works as a prostitute after being forced to sell her virginity to pay for an operation that saved her ailing father's life.

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Shocking statistics: Jodie travelled to Camodia where she learnt there are 50-70,000 sex workers 40 percent of them are under age

'I received the news that my father was ill back home,' she reveals. 'I had nowhere to go so I decided to sell my virginity. It was three years ago when I was 20 and I was paid $3,000 (£1,877) by a Chinese man.

'I was taken to a restaurant first and then a hotel. I was told to undress and take a shower. Afterwards I was told to keep my clothes off so I was covered only by a towel. 

'I was shivering and didn't know what to do because I had already agreed to have sex.'

 Sometimes I don't feel good about selling a virgin but I just think about the money

Tragically, as a result of what happened, Sukhon says she is no longer close to her family - even though she did it for them. 

'I'm in pain because my family keeps their distance. It hurts me but I understand because they didn't ask me to sell my virginity, they didn't want me to do that.'

While Sukhon's father, who also appears in the documentary, says he is grateful that his daughter's sacrifice saved his life, he wishes there had been another way.

He said after learning his daughter had sold her virginity, he felt 'anger, sadness and sorry as a parent but there was nothing I could do because it had already happened'.

'I love my daughter just like when she was born,' he added. 'I blame the mamasan [female pimp] and the situation that we are in.'

Mamasans, or female pimps, are a common sight in Cambodia and care little about the women they exploit.

One, who appeared on camera but asked not to be named, revealed that there is nothing that cannot be arranged for paying clients. 

'If a client wants to have sex, we'll arrange the girl for them,' she said. 'Also if the client has a special request and they want to sleep with a virgin I will find the girl for them.

'I get a commission from client and girl. Sometimes the girl is very grateful for my hard work so gives me extra money.' 

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Desperate situation: Jodie said more needs to be done to help vulnerable women like Sukhon

She admits that her career does make her feel 'bad' but she does it for the money. 'Sometimes I don't feel good about selling a virgin but I just think about the money,' she explained.

'Sometimes as a mamasan I am hit or tortured by the client if I don't find them a girl. I do have morals and sometimes I feel bad for the girl. 

'When I see the client walk away with the girl I think that I have become a very bad person.'

Sadly, sex trafficking and prostitution is booming in Cambodia, where an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 sex workers - 40 per cent of whom are under age - ply their trade.

Lots of young girls gather here from Kampot Province and they don't know what the city is like. They are an easy target for criminals

One charity which is trying to do something to help the underage victims of sex trafficking is Childsafe, which operates safe houses in Phnom Penh.

'Lots of young girls gather here from Kampot Province and they don't know what the city is like,' explains Sunni, an aid worker at the charity.

'They are an easy target for criminals. You can spot vulnerable people simply by their facial expressions. They might look naive or sad with problems.'

But Sunni said working for the charity can be fraught with danger. 

'I had a situation with a pimp when I tried to stop him taking a girl,' he recalled. 'The pimp was very angry and he threatened to shoot me.

'I was very fortunate as there was a lot of people from the charity here.' 

But while Sunni is safe, for Cambodia's thousands of virgin prostitutes, their ordeal goes on.