All you young folks out there listen up.  I’ve got an acne tip like no other—guaranteed to kill 50 million birds with one stone.  This 12 cent cure was discovered in the Southeast Orient by the more inventive amongst them.  At least that’s what I’m assuming.

OK, lest the suspense kill you, let me be quick: It’s nothing more than a  humble condom lubricant.

PHNOM PENH – A condom lubricant designed for sex workers and gay men has become a popular acne cure among female Cambodians. More specifically it’s Number One Plus, a water-based lubricant produced by health organization Population Services International (PSI).

“After I used it for three days, all of my acne dried up and went away,” one woman reported happily. “Many people believe in it,” she added.

According to those in the know, women of all ages have taken to using the lubricant to get rid of spots. Word of mouth is how the information is spreading—as in women telling women, though I suspect gay men are spreading the word just as efficiently and quickly.   Here is a first hand quote from one happy user:

“…my friends, who work at garment factories in Phnom Penh, advised me to apply the lubricant from Number One Plus condoms on my face every night,” she said, “and just within three to four nights, the acne on my face gradually and then totally disappeared.”

PSI was not immediately available for comment on the cosmetic benefits of their product.

At least four things came to mind when I read this article:  1) Why do these young Cambodians have bad acne? 2) What ingredients are in the lubricant? 3) How many young women work in the garment industry? 4) What does the term ‘sex workers’ mean?

Starting with the last, I Googled  ‘sex workers East Asia’ and hopped on the first site that popped up.  Sad to say, it had information I could have done without this Monday morning.

First of all, it is illegal in Cambodia to engage in sex work without a condom.  Second, in early 2008, an anti-human trafficking law was passed making all sex work illegal.

Sounds confusing, but the upshot of those two laws, is not confusing to the police.  Cambodia’s finest, imbued with a sense of power, use condoms as evidence that a woman is a sex worker.  Sex workers are arrested and sent to “rehabilitation” centers.

What you wanna bet, folks, that this puts a damper on all condom usage?  —Except for acne, of course.

How are these women rehabilitated, one might inquire?  Answer: They’re imprisoned in communal cells with no bathrooms or running water and given almost no food or drink.  Some are beaten, some are raped, some both. The HIV positive women are denied drug treatment.  And all this horror gets done in the name of anti-human trafficking.  For more information, there is a video to watch if you follow the link.

So I guess I’m left wondering why there are so many things to be sad about and so little time…

Not so happy tales,

Laura signing off