Report from HRW entitled Off the Streets

(Phnom Phen)  An international human rights group appealed Tuesday to Cambodia's government to end violence against sex workers and permanently close down detention centers where they are unlawfully held and abused.

In a report released Tuesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said sex workers face beatings, extortion and rape by police and guards at the detention centers.

Police began rounding up male and female sex workers from brothels, bars and parks in early 2008 after a new anti-trafficking law was introduced. The law does not specifically target sex workers, but activists say it prompted authorities to take a tougher stand against prostitution.

Cambodian law does not explicitly define prostitution as illegal, but commercial sex, which is widespread, is frowned upon by authorities who routinely launch sweeps to clean up the streets.

"We call on the government to permanently close these centers where sex workers have been unlawfully detained. We did not see that these centers served any rehabilitative purpose for these sex workers," Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said at a press conference in the capital Phnom Penh.

Read the complete article on ph.news.yahoo.com.

See the full report (PDF) on Cambodia from Human Rights Watch on hrw.org.