Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Child Domestic Workers and Patterns of Trafficking in Cambodia

The IOM report entitled “Out of sight, out of mind? Child domestic workers and trafficking in Cambodia”, finds that child domestic workers often have no social protection or support, and are generally forced to work in adverse conditions. Girls are often recruited into households to do domestic chores, such as cooking, cleaning and looking after children, working long hours without rest. Child domestic workers also appear to be at higher risk of later becoming sex workers – figures show that 51% of sex workers interviewed were former child domestic workers in Cambodia. Lack of access to education as domestic workers means there is a higher risk of moving towards other unskilled professions, such as sex work. The report is aimed at both government and civil society partners working in counter-trafficking in Cambodia, and hopes to tackle the problem of child domestic workers in Cambodia.