Locals reported that brothels first opened in 1985, but they proliferated in the years following the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, in the presence of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia's peacekeeping forces. Post-war, Svay Pak's political corruption and instability led to local authorities extorting brothel owners, while the sex workers themselves "experienced raids, arrests, and rape from armed military and civil police forces operating under loose governmental control." Furthermore, managers in Svay Pak subverted the Cambodian law requiring 100% condom-use for brothels, resulting in a 19% rate of HIV for workers in 2000. Though prostitution in Cambodia was not illegal in 2004, other factors contributed to ""de facto" criminalization" of the industry.