"Civil groups call for clear policies on women’s rights", 26 March 2019

Some 400 youth and women from 12 civil society organisations gathered … in Phnom Penh … to celebrate women’s rights, weeks after they were prevented by security forces from marching to mark International Women’s Day.

…, the group recounted the struggles faced by Cambodian women from all walks of life, including discrimination, sexual abuse and the disregard of women’s rights in society.

Representatives from NGOs Silaka, Gender and Development for Cambodia (GADC), Women’s Network for Unity (WNU), Worker’s Information Center (WIC), Rainbow Community Kampuchea (RoCK) and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) demanded an end to the abuses of individual rights in the form of violence.

WNU director Pech Polet told … that the event provided participants a chance to share personal experiences and highlighted the plight of women from all backgrounds, including rights and land activists, sex workers, garment workers, the disabled and members of the LGBT community…

Srey Tim, one of the women who attended the event, said she had encountered a lot of problems working in the entertainment sector…

Tim appealed for an end to discrimination against women, in all its forms.

“Working at a karaoke parlour is not bad, but [women there] are subject to insults, disdain and sexual harassment, leading to needless pain and suffering,” she said…

But Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi acknowledged … that violence and abuse against women persists.

She said the ministry is working to address the issue and would soon make its strategies public.