Cambodian Girls sacrifice virginity on Valentine’s Day

People walk past the Valentine's Day decorations made of pop cans in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 12, 2012. (Photo DB: Xinhua)

The Cambodian government will take measures on the Valentine’s Day to keep teenagers away from irresponsible sex behaviors, said Sivann Botum, secretary of state of the ministry of women’s affairs, on Monday.

Amid the trend of globalization, Valentine’s Day is gaining popularity in Cambodia, especially among teenagers.

Botum told Xinhua that many Cambodian teen girls, aged about 13 or 14, sacrificed their virginity on Valentine’s Day to show loyalty to their boyfriends.

Viewing teenager sex as a challenge to the traditional value of Khmer culture, she said sex among Cambodian younsters should come only after marriage.

Government research data showed girls, after having premature sex, tend to abandon schools and more likely to suffer emotionally.

The Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Culture, and Ministry of Education joined hands together to curb the teenager sex on Valentine’s Day, including broadcasting educational videos on national TVs, preventing hotel business from opening  to teenagers, and ordering schools to set exams on that day.

But, Botum said she did not see teenager sex on Valentine’s Day as a national trend, but a phenomenon in some urban places, such as the national capital of Phnom Penh,  with its higher degree of economic development and higher exposure to the western culture.

Botum also said the government will continue making efforts in the future to enhance the Cambodia’s social moral, woman values, and family values.

In previously years, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had vowed to extend the value of Valentine’s Day in the context of traditional Khmer culture.

He said Valentine’s Day should also be a day for Cambodians to show gratitude to their parents, teachers, and friends.

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