My Mother Sold Me: Cambodia Where Virginity is a Commodity*

Directed by Paul Burnatov (2018)

Film Review

https://rtd.rt.com/films/my-mother-sold-me/

This film profiles three Cambodian girls whose mothers forced them into prostitution to pay rent and buy food for their younger siblings. Although increasing trade and tourism are improving Cambodia’s economy, it’s still recovering from from the US-sponsored Khmer Rouge genocide (1975-790. Millions live on $1 a day. The Cambodian government provides financial or other support for indigent residents.

According to UNICEF, 1/3 of Cambodia’s sex workers (many pre-teens) are under 18. Many Cambodian men subscribe to the superstitious belief that sleeping with a virgin will give men strength and long life.

One mother got a $1000 fee for offering her 15-year-old virgin daughter for sex. She then used these funds to start a lottery ticket business. Although her daughter still attends school to qualify for a good job, she’s spurned by her classmates who view her as a prostitute.

Thai authorities (Child Protection Unit) emphasize enforcement efforts on adults who prey on pre-teen kids. One six-year old whose mother was forcing her to beg on the street lost custody after police sent her child to her grandmother.

The filmmakers also profile a 14-year-old who moved to the capitol Phnom Penh after her parent died and left her an orphan. After she hooked up with a boyfriend to get off the streets, he made her sleep with other people for money. Now 16, she’s a professional sex worker and hopes to make enough money to open a beauty salon with a friend who became a prostitute at 14 following stranger rape.

Another 15-year-old (TI) felt pressured to become a prostitute after her mother sold her virginity for $500. After her husband abandoned the family, the mother mainly supported her three children through prostitution. Ti, who has left school, found that once she became a prostitute her bad reputation prevented her from getting any other work.

*The Cambodian government has jailed the Cambodian interpreter who helped RT produce this film and there is an international campaign for his release.