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Women in Cambodia

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Women in Cambodia
A Khmer woman in traditional outfit
General Statistics
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)250 (2010)
Women in parliament18.1% (2012)
Women over 25 with secondary education11.6% (2010)
Women in labour force79.2% (2011)
Gender Inequality Index[1]
Value0.474 (2019)
Rank117th out of 162
Global Gender Gap Index[2]
Value0.688 (2021)
Rank103rd out of 156
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By country

Women in Cambodia, also referred to as Khmer women, as they are of the Khmer people, are traditionally expected to be modest and soft-spoken. They are to be well-mannered, [3] industrious, [4] and hold a sense of belonging to the household. It is expected that they act as the family's caregivers and caretakers, [3] financial administrators, [4] and serve as the "preserver of the home". As financial administrators, women can be identified as having household authority at the familial level. [5] Khmer women are expected to maintain virginity until marriage, become faithful wives, [3] and act as advisors to their husbands. [4] Women in Cambodia have also be known as “light” walkers-- "light" walking and refinement of the Khmer women is further described as being "quiet in […] movements that one cannot hear the sound of their silk skirt rustling".[4]

In recent years, women have become more active in the traditionally male-dominated spheres of work and politics in Cambodia.


Work

Cambodian woman

In the wake of the Cambodian Civil War, Cambodia suffered a deficit in male laborers. As a result, the women took on the responsibilities previously done by men. [4] Under Cambodian law, women are entitled to "equal pay for equal work". However, in reality, most women receive lower wages than their male counterparts. [4] During the 1990s, many "uneducated young women" from rural areas ventured into the city to work in garment factories.[4]

In 2004, the organization, Gender and Development for Cambodia, stated that 6% of the female workforce in Cambodia is paid.[6]


Religion

Main article: Religion in Cambodia
A Buddhist nun in Cambodia.

Cambodian women are generally active in worshipping at Buddhist temples and participating in religious ceremonies, particularly during the thngai seil (Template:Lang-km; English for "holy days"). Some women not only participate as worshippers, but become Buddhist nuns (យាយជី yeay chi) themselves, especially the widowed and the elderly.

Education

Main article: Education in Cambodia

13.8% of Cambodian women were reported as being illiterate in 2019. 16% of Cambodian girls were enrolled in lower secondary schools in 2004.[6] Many Cambodian girls have been kept from education due to several factors. One factor is that they are needed at home to take care of younger siblings, perform household duties, and support the head of the home. Other factors include extreme poverty, the prohibitive distance of schools from many rural houses, and sometimes even fears for their safety when traveling alone from home to school.[4]

Women are increasingly present in Cambodia's universities. As of 2004, 20% of graduates from universities were female.[6]

SHE Investments, together with Youth Business International (YBI) and funded by Google.org, created an initiative to help underserved small and medium women business owners learn about digital literacy, crisis management, financial management and business model adaption to help them recover after Covid-19. The program is led by the YBI and funded by Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google. As of September 2021, a total of 94 out of 97 women graduated and said they would recommend the program to others, while 78 businesses were reported as still operational at the end of the program. Monthly revenue of the participants increased by 169 percent, 584 jobs were either retained, re-hired or new hires.[7]

Political status

In general, from the 1980s up to the present, the number of female participants in Cambodian politics has remained low, and they are under-represented in high-level positions at both the local and national levels of the government.[4] Since 1993 there has been a modest rise in Cambodian women's participation, including leadership, in non-governmental organizations focusing on the issues and rights of women.[4]

It was reported in 2004 that 10% of National Assembly members, 8% of Commune Council members and 7% of judges were women.[6]

In Cambodian legislation and indeed the country's history, men and women have always technically had equal rights before the law.[4] This proclamation is also stated in the Constitution of Cambodia.[4] Women benefit from inheritance laws, wherein they can own property, they can "bring property into a marriage", they can retrieve the said property if they decide to do so, and they can easily obtain a divorce.[4] Cambodia outlawed marital rape in 2005.[8]

Prostitution

Further information: Prostitution in Cambodia

Prostitution in Cambodia involves the hiring or forcible prostitution of both local women[4] and women from Vietnam,[9] and is being linked to the sex trade in nearby Thailand. In part because of the spread of prostitution, around 2.8% of Cambodia's population are infected with HIV/AIDS.[4]

Sex trafficking

Main article: Sex trafficking in Cambodia

Cambodian women and girls have been sex trafficked within the country and throughout the world.[10] They are threatened and forced into prostitution, marriages, and or pregnancies.[11]

Domestic violence

Further information: Violence against women in Cambodia

In rural communities, Cambodian women are susceptible to domestic violence, and in practice have "little legal recourse". [5] Due to limited women's education, some Cambodian women are unable to protect themselves from discrimination, gender inequality, violence, and abuse, because they are not aware of their legal rights, and are also ignorant of global human rights standards.[6]

Gender and Development for Cambodia reported in 2004 that "23% of women have suffered physical domestic abuse".[6]

Social status

A young Cambodian waitress waiting on customers.

In recent years, the leading argument has been the idea that a woman in society today and what Cambodian traditions tell us about their role must be revisited and changed.  For gender equity to be complete, the norms of a woman must reflect todays changing era of leadership roles. Elevating a woman’s worth from the traditional representations of women in Khmer culture, stating that a woman is second to a man,[12] would help make a woman her own agent.

Contrary to traditional Cambodian culture, young Cambodian women have been influenced by Western ways in recent years. One trend is that some young female Cambodians, particularly in the capital of Phnom Penh, overtly consume liquors and other alcoholic beverages in restaurants. Other perceived Western influences include the sense of having equal rights between men and women, a sense of peer pressure, companionship, experimentation, family troubles, abandonment by a boyfriend, and increasingly, advertising.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gender Inequality Index" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2021" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Chey, Elizabeth. The Status of Khmer Women, Mekong.net
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The Status of Women in Society, seasite.niu.edu
  5. ^ a b Gender Roles and Statuses, everyculture.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f The Status of Women in Cambodia, Gender and Development for Cambodia, online.com.kh
  7. ^ "Results just released of teaching digital literacy to female workers - Khmer Times". 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  8. ^ UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) (20 January 2011). "Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: Cambodia". CAT/C/KHM/CO/2. Retrieved 8 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. ^ Cambodia, Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation, uri.edu
  10. ^ "Cambodia UN ACT". UN ACT.
  11. ^ "Inside the world of Cambodia's child sex trade, as told through the eyes of a survivor". ABC News. March 8, 2017.
  12. ^ Hill, Peter S; Ly, Heng Thay (2004-01-01). "Women are Silver, Women are Diamonds: Conflicting Images of Women in the Cambodian Print Media". Reproductive Health Matters. 12 (24): 104–115. doi:10.1016/S0968-8080(04)24148-9. ISSN 0968-8080. PMID 15626201.
  13. ^ Women in Cambodia are increasingly becoming social drinkers. Phnom Penh Post. April 6, 2011.

Further reading

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