The Evil Behind The Smiles

Published: December 31, 2008
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia 

Nicholas D. Kristof/The New York Times
On the Ground

Western men who visit red-light districts in poor countries often find themselves surrounded by coquettish teenage girls laughingly tugging them toward the brothels. The men assume that the girls are there voluntarily, and in some cases they are right.

But anyone inclined to take the girls’ smiles at face value should talk to Sina Vann, who was once one of those smiling girls. Continue reading