The Sex Trade

• There are approximately 80,000 – 100,000 prostitutes in Cambodia and 17,000 of these are in Phnom Penh.
• 30{5d61d5db80826e5bd2f7910f7ae09db2b6ee40ed78e94f68b443cef83cade331} of these prostitutes are under 18 years of age.
• According to the United Nations one third of all prostitutes in Cambodia have HIV or AIDS.

Why is this happening?

• Poverty: Desperately poor families selling their daughters especially in times of crisis such as family illness.
• Broken Families: Many of the most vulnerable girls are orphaned, living with relatives, have family already in the sex trade or have parents with drug and alcohol additions.
• Cultural beliefs: Some believe that sleeping with a virgin or child promises youthfulness, healing and happiness.
• Lack of education and training: A lack of opportunities has created a large number of unskilled workers needing employment.
• Lack of Jobs: Growing numbers are entering the labour force with 50{5d61d5db80826e5bd2f7910f7ae09db2b6ee40ed78e94f68b443cef83cade331} of the population under 20 years of age.
• High risk Jobs: Garment factories are closing down causing women to shift to higher risk sectors which can easily lead them into prostitution, such as the entertainment industry, massage parlours, karaoke bars and beer gardens.

Our Vision

• Our vision is to reach out to the women, men and children trapped in prostitution enabling them to see alternative lifestyles of hope and dignity
• Our vision is to help the broken hearted of Cambodia and to see the captives set set free emotionally, physically and spiritually.

The Women of Wat Phnom

Located in the northern area of Phnom Penh’s riverside, Wat Phnom is a notorious red-light district. During all hours of the day and night girls in their teens to women in their fifties work as prostitutes.

Most of these women are homeless and seek refuge at night in the temple gardens. Many are HIV positive, many fall pregnant and most have no alternative income keeping them trapped in the sex trade. Tragically women who fall pregnant often cannot afford to keep their children leading to many children being sold.

What we do

We are working to bring a hope and a future to the women and men of Wat Phnom.

Once a week we visit Wat Phnom and invite the workers and their families to have an evening meal with us. The meal is provided free of charge and we spend time sharing about alternative lifestyles and praying for any of the women and men who want prayer.

We share with the men and women about organisations in Phnom Penh that can help them to leave the bondage of slavery. We build relationships at these meals which leads to us meeting with the women and men at other times of the week to provide support to help them to leave the bondage of slavery.

We connect the women to organizations such as Daughters of Cambodia and Mother’s Heart where they receive safe accommodation, counselling, medical care, prenatal care, vocational training and employment opportunities.

By treating these women and men with dignity and respect and by building relationships with them we have seen them open up their hearts to receive and experience God’s love and freedom.

It is our hope and vision to see more and more women and men released from the strongholds that keep them in slavery and to see them restored emotionally, physically and spiritually. 

How you can help

You can help support our Ministry for sex trafficked victims as we provide hope for a better future for women and men in slavery. We are looking for sponsors who will be able to partner with us through monthly giving of $35 USD or more. The money will go towards supporting the women and men that we serve with medical care, transport, food, clothing and other necessities.

If you feel led to partner with us financially and for more information, please visit our donations page

Prayer

We passionately believe in the transformative power of prayer in the lives of the women and the men that we serve. Please do partner with us in praying for breakthrough for the women and men of Wat Phnom and in praying for us as we serve them.

Please Pray specifically :

• For breakthrough in the individual lives of the men and women we work with, that they would experience emotional, physical and spiritual restoration.
• For us to have compassion, wisdom, boldness and divine opportunities as we seek to serve these women and men.
• For breakthrough in the spiritual strongholds in the culture which keep people in the bondage of prostitution.

Ministry Leader: Antonia Enzler

God has given Antonia a heart of compassion for the broken people of Cambodia. Antonia has a God given passion to see these people made whole through the power and love of God.