“At-Risk” or “Socially Deviant”? Conflicting Narratives and Grassroots Organizing of Sex/Entertainment Workers and LGBT Communities in Cambodia

Abstract

Cambodia has experienced rapid economic development and increased globalization in the last two decades, which have influenced changes in sexual attitudes and politics. Yet deeply embedded patriarchal structures that promote adherence to traditional values, gender binaries, and sexual purity of women impede progress in the recognition of the rights of sex/entertainment workers and LGBT communities. Using the framework of sexual humanitarianism, this paper outlines the ways in which these constraints are compounded by two dominant conflicting narratives that place these groups as either at-risk and vulnerable or socially deviant, and deemed in need of interventions that protect and control. Drawing on over a decade of empirical research on the sex/entertainment industries, and broader gender/sexual landscape in Cambodia, as well as current social activism of the authors, this paper also describes the ways LGBT and sex worker communities are engaging in shared organizing and self-advocacy as strategies to address their needs and the consequences left in the wake of sexual humanitarian interventions. In order to contextualize their deeply-rooted legacy in Cambodia, the paper also provides an overview of past and contemporary gender/sexual norms and diversity, and concludes with a call for governments and policymakers to expand support for grassroots movements and to listen more closely to the voices of LGBT and sex worker communities so that the political and social needs of these groups can be addressed.

Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US

“…Peer-to-peer interventions in the US provide a critical resource for sex workers in creating a sense of solidarity and providing fundamental services that counter the systemic violence that leads to negative health outcomes. Overall, our research findings highlight that in response to the harms associated with sexual humanitarian efforts and resulting system-involvement, sex workers, migrants and people with trafficking experiences are creatively designing and implementing their own grassroots solutions to support their communities and ultimately "saving themselves" in their own terms (Hoefinger 2013;Hoefinger and Srun 2017). In this respect, the experiences of sex workers involved in community-based responses show the paradoxical situation they face as they successfully address the harms caused by well-funded and politically endorsed sexual humanitarian programs with no other financial support other than their own resources.…”

“…In New Zealand, the New Zealand Prostitute Collective (NZPC) was offered government health funds to run prevention programs in 1987 and is a leading organization in providing health and rights support for sex workers (Healy et al 2010). In Cambodia, Hoefinger and Srun (2017) work highlights the salience of intersectional approaches to shared movement building and political organizing now taking place among different marginalized groups of sex workers and LGBT+ communities in response to sexual humanitarian interventions. These efforts have resulted in policy changes and increased mutual support and social awareness around the violence and human rights violations that divergent, but sometimes overlapping, communities experience.…”

Who gets ‘Left behind’? Promises and pitfalls in making the global development agenda work for sex workers – reflections from Southeast Asia

“…Working in bars is often reasonably lucrative, especially compared to agricultural employment, and pressures to support families in the absence of effective social protection systems mean that women opt for the highest paying work. Hoefinger and Srun (2017) also point out that transwomen in Cambodia also frequently turn to sex work -a reflection of the economically marginal status of this stigmatised population (as well as the role that sex work plays as a form of 'gender identity validation'). On the second point, both Cambodia's and Thailand's, sex industries are largely the result of the influx of international troops due to the Vietnamese and Cambodian wars.…”

A scoping review of HIV epidemiologic, sociocultural and programmatic studies related to transgender women and men who have sex with men in Cambodia, 1999-2019

“…These issues include genderbased violence, access to gender-affirmation surgery and hormone therapy for transgender people and a 'lack of attention for the mental health-, housing-, employment-and other social/ economic/emotional needs of non-heteronormative people' [36]. The same authors also note the increasing level of community-organizing among LGBT groups in an attempt for better human rights [37].…”