Project description

Title: Promotion of Women's Rights
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Cambodia
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Overall term: September 2002 to June 2009

Context

Domestic violence is still seen at all levels of Cambodian society as a strategy for resolving conflict. Violence in the family reflects social and cultural behaviour patterns that accept violence in the home and the disrespect of women. A study conducted by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (2005) showed that 64 percent of the population know a man who physically abuses his wife. It is a core problem that domestic violence is regarded by the population as well as by the police and judiciary as a private matter. Women often shy away from claiming their rights in court. The reasons include lack of funds, social inexperience and the fear of being at a disadvantage before jurists who are almost all men and influenced by traditional views of gender roles. Consequently, domestic violence as a rule goes unpunished.

Objective

The Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs, other government offices and civil society organisations implement the Act to Protect Against Violence quickly and effectively. In this way protection of women against domestic violence will be improved.

Approach

The project for promotion of women’s rights intends to help improve the legal situation and concrete living conditions for disadvantaged women, especially for victims of domestic violence. At the project’s start, emphasis was on supporting passage of the protection act and on gender-specific themes in legislative and political processes.
The act preventing domestic violence was passed in September 2005 by the National Assembly. In January 2008, the law against human trafficking and sexual exploitation came into effect. A further especially brutal form of gender-specific violence is thereby forbidden by law. The law was drafted with the support of German Development Cooperation, by GTZ and the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM).
Legal regulations alone, however, are not enough to overcome traditional patriarchal social structures.

Results achieved so far

In April 2004 the Government supplemented the Millennium Development Goals with a national objective on the issue of violence against women. With the project’s support, in 2005 Parliament passed the act to protect against domestic violence. It furnishes a base for training measures and as a central reference source contributes to advancing a change in values.

The support of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in implementing the violence protection act has to date been concentrated on Kompong Thom province. A total of more than 25,000 people in the province were reached directly by the project.

Further information

• Ministry of Women's and Veteran's Affairs
  www.mwva.gov.kh