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Cambodia

Members

Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE)

Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) is a Cambodian NGO established in 2003, dedicated to building a community with robust social and legal justice in which all children are safe from child sexual abuse and exploitation. APLE’s mission is to strengthen national social and legal mechanisms for the protection of children at risk of, or affected by, child sexual abuse or exploitation through implementing such programs as criminal justice development, court support, community engagement, research and advocacy. APLE is also running a hotline to where the general public can report child sexual abuse.

M’Lop Tapang

Established in 2003 in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, M’Lop Tapang focuses on safeguarding disadvantaged and vulnerable children and youth. The organization combats the sexual exploitation of children, as well as protecting them from all other forms of abuse, through a blend of direct intervention, education, medical care, legal support, and rehabilitation services. Their dedicated team of social workers and specialists provides comprehensive child protection, ensuring safety and promoting recovery. M’LopTapang actively collaborates with local and national government, local networks and partners, and international networks to strengthen our strategies and achieve sustainable impact in child protection.

Action Pour Les Enfants – APLE Cambodia

Contact: Executive Director, Seila Samleang
Phone: +85523 996 351
Address: 13b, street 588, Boengkok 2, Toul Kork, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: info@aplecambodia.org
Website: https://aplecambodia.org/

M’Lop Tapang

Contact: Roth, Chanphalkun
Phone: +855 12 202 730
Address: Group 4, Village 4, Sang Kat 4, Sihanoukville,
Cambodia
Email: info@mloptapang.org
Website: https://www.mloptapang.org/

Facts

Cambodia is one of the most significant destinations in South East Asia for travelling child sex offenders due to the increase in the number of tourists, its increasing accessibility and the general level of poverty within the country.

Cambodia is a source, transit and destination country for children trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation

Resources

News and stories

Indicators

Age of Consent

No

The age of sexual consent is 15 years for both girls and boys. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exemption.
DH Legal Analysis Cambodia, 2020

Extraterritoriality & Extradition

No

Active and passive extraterritoriality is provided for SEC-related crimes but those punished with 5 years of imprisonment or less require double criminality.

Extradition is governed by international conventions ratified by Cambodia and requires double criminality.
DH Legal Analysis Cambodia, 2020

CSAM Definition

No

The national legislation does not provide a definition which is partially in line with international standards. The definition provided does not include depictions of the sexual parts of a child’s body for primarily sexual purposes, nor material depicting a person appearing to be a minor and computer/digitally generated CSAM including realistic images of non-existing children.
DH Legal Analysis Cambodia, 2020

Background Check Required

No

There are no mandatory legal provisions for criminal background checks nor legislation prohibiting convicted sex offenders to hold positions involving or facilitating contact with children.
SECTT Legal Checklist Cambodia, 2020

National Commitments

Partial

Cambodia has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.

Cambodia has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
DH Legal Analysis Cambodia, 2020

Child Advocacy Centers

Not Yet Assessed

SEC Police Unit

Partial

There are two main police units including SEC in their mandate: the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection (AHTJP) Department, dealing with SEC cases in general and the Anti Cybercrime Unit, for crimes related OCSE and other computer related crimes. No information has been found on whether these units are fully functional and whether both offences under national and extra-territorial jurisdiction are able to be addressed by them.
DH Desk-based Research Cambodia, 2020

Protection Standards Travel and Tourism

Partial

There are no child protection standards for the travel and tourism industry in place but some special laws could be applicable in this regard.
SECTT Legal Checklist ASEAN, 2020

Public SEC Case Data

No

There are national databases to gather information on sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and trafficking cases. However, these tend to focus primarily on trafficking, and are insufficiently linked to each other. Furthermore they are not accessible at the provincial and municipal levels. It is unclear whether this data is made available on a regular basis and whether it is clearly disaggregated.
ECO Cambodia, 2018