Twenty-four Vietnamese prostitutes, many of whom are under 18, were rescued from a brothel in Phnom Penh’s Svay Pak commune during a raid Thursday, police officials said.
Three men and one woman in charge of the brothel were also arrested, said Chan Saroeun, deputy minor crime police chief. The Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights and the municipal minor crime unit had been investigating Brothel No 1 in Russey Keo district for months before the raid occurred, Chan Saroeun said.
Thirteen of the rescued girls are under 18 and are now under the care of the Children’s Rights Center, while others were taken to the Ministry of Social Affairs. Authorities had plans to raid two other brothels in Svay Pak, but they shut down and those working there fled after the first raid.
In an unrelated case, authorities rescued four female garment factory workers who were forced to have sex in a hotel room, Russey Keo district police chief Ly Lay said. Police arrested a couple they say was running a sex service and are questioning them.
