Sex worker’s death haunts women of Wat Phnom
In the weeks since the suspicious death of Pen Kunthea, a pall has settled over the small community of sex workers who ply their trade around the capital’s Wat Phnom each night. For many, Kunthea’s death was not an aberration, but a grim testament to the cruelty and indifference that define relations between Phnom Penh’s sex workers and law enforcement officials. Struggling to support her polio-afflicted son, Kunthea turned to the sex industry to supplement her income. While working around Wat Phnom on the night of January 1, she and four other sex workers were chased by a group of Daun Penh district security guards. Jumping between tourist boats docked on the riverside in an attempt to escape, Kunthea slipped, hit her head and fell into the river.
