Cambodia was one of the first countries to enact an anti-trafficking law in 1996. This was one of the
harshest laws in the country and punished trafficking as severely as premeditated murder. Although
there was some concern about human trafficking (HT) within Cambodia, a global campaign led by the
United States (US), was waging a “war on human trafficking” that required action to ensure the
continuation of development aid. Human trafficking, or “modern day slavery,” was described by the
United States Department of State (DSUS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
as a transnational enterprise controlled by organized crime, which enslaves 12.3 million people,
generates $32 billion in profit for human traffickers, is the third most profitable business for organized
crime, and poses a serious threat to national and global security (DSUS, 2006, 2009b, UNODC, 2007,
2008). Such estimates reflect the impact of the moral panic about HT and have subsequently been
found to be unreliable and estimates of profit significantly inflated (UNODC 2012, 2010)