Srey Mov : "...one last chance at happiness..."

Srey Mov has been a commercial sex worker for 12 years. Although she entered the sex industry by personal choice, it is evident that she is a victim of poverty and has had little alternative. Her childhood took a tragic turn following the death of her parents at the age of 12. Suddenly an orphan, Srey Mov spent almost a year homeless and alone on the streets of Phnom Penh. A woman finally took her in on the condition that she would perform household duties and tend to her children.

Working day and night to fulfill her obligations, Srey Mov had no time to enjoy her childhood, and was denied any chance of finishing her primary education. At the age of nineteen she was brokered into an arranged marriage with a much older man. Quickly proving to be a loveless and abusive relationship, Mov made the drastic decision to run away. Yet with no financial resources, and nowhere to turn to for support, Mov again found herself alone, penniless, and hungry. Feeling that she had no alternative, she accepted work in the commercial sex industry.

For Srey Mov, sex work was a means to survival and nothing else. Like many others, Mov was naive to the darker side of the industry, and her life became a perpetual cycle of sex and violence. Servicing up to a dozen men each day, she was routinely abused by clients, pimps, and other workers. Extremely unhappy with her situation, she attempted to leave the sex industry, and found work sewing clothes at a garment factory. The wages were pitiful, and for a woman living without family support, proved insufficient. She was unable to pay for food, and having lost all hope for a normal life, soon returned to her brothel. As a final insult, Srey Mov was diagnosis with HIV on June 18, 2007.

A regular visitor to our drop-in center in Toul Kork, Srey Mov receives HIV support and counseling. She has shared with us her desire to leave the sex industry once and for all. She dreams of opening her own fruit stall where she would sell papayas, mangoes, apples and watermelons. However, without access to investment capital, this will remain just a dream.