HIV and AIDS is a significant problem in Cambodia with an estimated 170, 000 sufferers in both rural and urban regions (UNICEF Cambodia 2006). HIV/AIDS is endemic for commercial sex workers in Phnom Penh where an estimated 37% are HIV positive. These figures are slowly decreasing, however the unintended by-product of this positive development, is that the demand for younger and younger girls has shot up. Young girls are considered clean and disease free yet the very fact that their bodies are not physically ready for sexual intercourse with grown men makes them extremely susceptible to contracting fatal sexually transmitted diseases.

CCPCR conducts training workshops in numerous rural provinces to educate people about the dangers of HIV/AIDS with the aim of removing misconceptions about the spread of these and other diseases, facilitating further prevention. We are particularly determined eradicate the belief that young girls provide immunity to these diseases and to promote that fact that anybody undertaking unprotected sex has the potential to contract these diseases.