Ricky Martin. Photo / Reuters
Pop star Ricky Martin met victims of sexual exploitation on Saturday during a visit to Cambodia to promote the fight against human trafficking.
Martin held toddlers and listened to a 14-year-old rape victim's song at a shelter in the northwestern city of Siem Reap, home of the
famed Angkor temples. "She sings like an angel," Martin said after the girl finished a song she composed about the plight of trafficking victims.
The girl was among 65 victims sheltered at the rescue centre of Afesip, a French non-governmental group working to combat human trafficking in Cambodia.
Martin also held the 3-month-old daughter of a 22-year-old woman who was sold by her father to a brothel and is now HIV-positive. The woman broke down in tears as she urged Martin to keep fighting against human trafficking. "I'm not going to stop," Martin said.
About 2.5 million people are involved in forced labour as a result of trafficking, and 161 countries - on every continent and in every type of economy - are affected by the crime, the United Nations said. Most victims are between the ages of 18 and 24 and an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, United Nations figures show.
The Ricky Martin Foundation does most of its work in Latin America.
