In his recent article entitled “Bargaining for Freedom”, Nicholas Kristof recounts buying the freedom of two Cambodian women by paying off their debts to the brothel owner. From my own experience as a Director of the Tabitha Foundation in Australia, an aid organization which amongst other development activities works to rehabilitate Cambodian prostitutes back into their communities, I can say that he has succinctly and painfully captured much of the tragedy and moral ambiguity of third-world prostitution.

I can also say that he is right to worry that the women he rescued will “find freedom so unsettling that they slink back to slavery in the brothels”. For as wonderful and humane as his gesture was, prostitution, at least in Cambodia, is more than an issue of slavery and debt but also of bad choices and a destroyed sense of self worth. The sad fact is that paying off the debts of prostitutes and others in bonded labor will only reinforce their own perception of themselves as chattels that can be bought and sold again. It also does not address the circumstances which lead them into prostitution in the first place.

Debt is one of the overwhelming scourges of daily life in Cambodia. Incomes are so pitiful and unreliable that loans are often required simply to provide the family with one bowl of watery rice a day. Once in debt, most become trapped, unable to keep up with the spiraling interest payments. Caught between starvation and the loan sharks, families will sell their children and young women to buy a little relief. And so when gaining their freedom, many prostitutes return home to the same desperate situation and then, seeing no viable alternatives, choose, yes choose, to return to the brothels.

This of course is not a choice made lightly. The conditions in these brothels are hellish. Extreme physical abuse is par for the course and Aids is rampant. In addition to the prostitutes themselves, the brothels are teeming with their orphaned children. Most terrible is the sheer dehumanising effect of the work.

Through four insane years of killing fields the Khmer Rouge ruthlessly demonstrated to Cambodians that “to destroy you is no loss”. Having literally lost everything - their families, their homes and their identities - most Cambodians today have no real sense of self. Many will state outright that they are bad - they must be - for why else would they be forced to suffer so much? Thus, for those entering prostitution, the destruction is complete. They know that they are the lowest, and they expect to be treated like dirt. In this environment, acts of kindness can only be greeted with suspicion or simply numb disbelief.

So, before any meaningful improvement can be made to their economic situation, a sense of self worth and entitlement must be restored. This is where Tabitha’s work begins. It is not easy. Most prostitutes are terribly ashamed and do not want to face “respectable people”. With gentle persistence some will eventually agree to meet. It will then take several long days of quiet discussion before they fully realise what they are being asked to do. Before any help will be forthcoming, they must declare that they themselves deserve to have a good life.

As simple as this may sound, for the women and children involved, this is the hardest step. There will be many more days of tears and struggle before, at last, they can claim this for themselves out loud and in front of others. But with this foundation in place, the success rate of rehabilitation programs is greatly enhanced.

At this point, it may seem reasonable to pay off the debts of program participants on their behalf. Apart from requiring funding far in excess of our reserves, this would paradoxically now be a blow to the participant’s new found self respect - they face a problem and they must overcome it themselves. Tabitha’s role here is to provide practical advice and moral support. It sounds tough, and it is. But the effects are truly life-changing. The self belief resulting from freeing themselves has ensured that of the hundreds of participants who have graduated from the program, virtually none have returned to prostitution.

Tabitha’s main form of assistance is providing a safe place for participants to save a small portion of their meager salaries. Regular banks will not offer accounts to prostitutes and theft is a constant danger within the brothels. Furthermore, the temptation to spend when one is feeling particularly depressed is strong and there are always families and friends begging for what little money may be at hand. Tabitha makes weekly collections and provides the participants with a “bank book” to track their savings. We also pay a little interest as a further incentive.

It is a slow process - it takes trust and constant reassurance. There are many dark times of self-doubt and despair, but with moral support and encouragement most of the participants will be able to pay off their debts within a year. And as Mr. Kristoff notes in his article, not all brothel owners are monsters. In most brothels where Tabitha runs programs, the owners actively push their workers to save.

The savings program not only helps cancel debts. Participants will often return to their villages with enough capital to buy a permanent home, start a small business, and support their extended families. Such a homecoming ensures, in most cases, that participants are greeted with respect and esteem. Most happily, many subsequently marry and raise happy, healthy children who will never need to suffer the tragedy of prostitution.

More information regarding Tabitha is available at www.tabitha-usa.org, or by contacting Cathy Caldwell at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Tabitha USA is a sister foundation of Tabitha Foundation Australia