In Cambodia, women
customarily have been seen as men’s subordinates; they also tend to suffer
more seriously from the impact of poverty. Women are generally in a
disadvantaged position within the country; they have less access to education,
paid employment, land ownership and other property rights, resources and power
than men.
Violence of both a physical
and sexual nature continues to rise and is thus a serious matter of concern. It
is disturbing to find that some 25% of Cambodian women are affected by domestic
violence. Yet it is seldom punished, even when women are severely injured.
Violence against women and children should be seen as being both caused by
poverty and as causing and deepening their impoverishment.
The NPRS contains many
references to gender equality and numerous points requiring implementation to
achieve poverty reduction. It is not yet clear how the government intends to
carry out its action plan to achieve sustainable development in Cambodia.
Health:
Over 80% of the nation’s
population resides in rural areas where there is limited access to education,
basic health services and broadcasted information. More medical workers are
based in the cities than in rural areas and the majority of doctors are male.
Due to poverty there are greater difficulties generating an income in remote
areas, so people move to the cities to seek employment. Migrant workers are then
often exposed to greater risks, such as poor living conditions, poor diets,
HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, prostitution, sex trafficking and gender
violence.
In 1995, with the
introduction of the birth spacing policy, contraceptives have become widely
available to women and men. 24% of women are now currently using contraceptives
and Cambodia has experienced a period of fertility decline from 5.4 to 4.0
children per woman of reproductive age. The coverage of maternal health services
still remains low and there is still an unmet need for birth spacing. At the
same time many women do not have access to safe abortions.
Every year in Cambodia 2,000
women die during childbirth and over 200,000 women suffer from pregnancy related
complications because of poor access to maternal health care, often as a
consequence of poverty. The maternal mortality ratio for the period between
1994-2000 is 473 per 100,000 live births – an alarming figure. The main
medical causes of women dying in childbirth (maternal mortality) are:
▫
Post partum haemorrhage
▫
Eclampsia
▫
Obstructed labour
▫
Unsafe abortion
▫
Sepsis
▫
Malnutrition (anaemia)
▫
HIV/AIDS
Illiteracy is a barrier for
the poor to improve their lives. This has the effect of excluding women from the
development process. The illiteracy rate is very high – roughly 45% of female
adults are completely illiterate (compared to 24.7% for men), and approximately
25% of youth are also illiterate. 70.8% of women and 50.4% of men are functionally
illiterate[1].
The training opportunities for women are limited to “women’s skills” such
as dressmaking.
Poverty rates are higher for
households in which the head of the household has had either no formal education
or only some primary schooling. The share of education in household consumption
expenditure of the poor is less than 1.1%.
Access to education for girls
is improving and the inclusion in the NPRS Action Plan of targeted scholarships
for girls from poor families is welcomed. This commitment needs to be supported
by the allocation of real resources to ensure it reaches those who need it most
in an ongoing and sustainable fashion. At the same time, action needs to be
taken to ensure that the high dropout rate for girls from schools is addressed.
Lack of access to information
and education about law and rights is a serious issue; ignorance of legal
protections leaves the poor vulnerable to exploitation. This is also the case in
relation to access to government information and decision-making. Without access
to this, the poor, and particularly poor women, are excluded from participating
in community activities, and are unable to contribute information that could
fill the gaps between government policies and their implementation.
Gender-based
violence:
Domestic violence affects
some 25% of Cambodian women and is seldom punished, even when women are severely
injured. Rape, violence against sex workers, and trafficking of women and
children to neighbouring countries are on the increase.
The law on domestic violence
has not yet been passed, having been delayed by the National Assembly Elections.
The new National Assembly should take immediate action to legislate in this area
and ensure that the law is properly implemented.
The rise in reported rapes
indicates that a number of effective strategies need to be developed. Education
on gender matters for the general population to address deep-seated views
regarding the role of women within Cambodian society is a long-term process.
However, in the more immediate context the legal and judicial system should take
serious steps to ensure that those accused of rape are caught, tried, and if
found guilty, adequately punished. The low level of convictions for rape
reinforces an attitude that it is either not a serious offence, or it is an
offence that is unlikely to result in a conviction.
The Anti-trafficking Law
passed by Council of Ministers needs to include all kinds of trafficking such as
organ trafficking, labour exploitation, sex trafficking and baby trafficking.
The government should rigorously enforce the MOU on trafficking between Cambodia
and Thailand signed in 1992, and encourage the Thai authorities to do the same.
Women
in leadership:
The
role of women in the political life of Cambodia is developing but it remains a
slow process with only small numbers reaching a level of real power. Thus the
2003 election resulted in 12 women being elected to the National Assembly, an
increase of 5 from the 1998 election.
Following
the 1998 election, there were only 2 female ministers among the 25 ministries
and 4 female Secretaries of State out of a total of 50. At the time this was an
improvement, though there are still no female provincial governors.
Previously there were only 4 women in politically appointed positions and
no female ministers, secretaries of state or provincial governors. Only 9% of
the 169,000 civil servants are women, and only 8 of 110 judges in Cambodia and
no prosecutors are women.
Prior to the 2002 Commune
Elections there was discussion of developing a quota of 30% of seats for women.
However, this suggestion was rejected and only 8.5% of the councillors elected
were women. The involvement of larger numbers of women in politics at the local
level would be an important step forward in developing both a culture of
acceptance of women in power, as well as fostering the empowerment of women who
have a valuable contribution to make to the future of the country.
Economy
and agriculture:
In Cambodia 65% of
agricultural labour and 75% of fisheries production are in the hands of women.
Poverty cannot be reduced unless policies, programs and budget equitably address
the situation of Cambodian women’s needs.
Rural women are responsible
for 80% of food production, and more than 65% of women are farmers. Half of
those women are illiterate or have less than a primary school education.
78% are engaged in subsistence agriculture, compared to 29% for men. In
rural areas, only 4% of women and 10% of men are in waged employment.
Women-headed households are
more likely to work in agriculture than male-headed households, and yet they are
also more likely to be landless or have significantly smaller plots of land.
Nearly 80% of these workers are primarily engaged in subsistence agriculture
with women comprising 56% of the primary work force in subsistence agriculture,
and 54% of the work force in market-oriented agriculture. The majority of women
are also unpaid family workers.
Access to quality extension
services is a serious issue for both men and women farmers, and women have
significantly less access to what little extension services and training are
available. Agriculture research and extension are not focused on the activities
of women farmers; even though men and women tend to specialise in different
tasks.
Although more than 70% of
Cambodia’s population are employed in agricultural production, between 12% and
15% of them have no agricultural land. The access of the poor to other natural
resources such as forest, fisheries and related resources is constrained.
Women
with disabilities:
Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)
are discriminated against at all levels of society in all aspects. This causes
PWDs to live in isolation, excluded from the mainstream of society, and have no
access to equal rights and opportunities like others. Disabled women face double
discrimination – as women and as PWDs.
Disability issues seem to be
ignored by the government. At the most recent Disability Day (3 December 2003)
it was said that less than 2% of Cambodian people are PWDs. But the World Bank
estimates the number of PWDs living in Cambodia as 20%.
In Water and Sanitation,
disable women are the most vulnerable. There is no appropriate toilet or
bathroom for women with disabilities. In many cases they are living in an
unhealthy environment.
People with seeing, hearing
and speaking impairments have no access to education. Most of them cannot read
or write. Moreover children with disabilities cannot go to school or stop going
to school because of the buildings have no ramps.
Disabled women suffer more
from domestic violence. Their husbands mostly abandon them after they become
disabled. There are many cases of disabled women being exploited.
Poverty can only be reduced
when the needs of the most vulnerable groups are addressed – especially, women
with disabilities.
·
The draft law on domestic violence should be passed by the National
Assembly and implemented effectively as a matter of priority.
·
The government should ensure the effective implementation of the Labour
Law, Anti-Trafficking Law, Marriage and Family Law and Domestic Violence Law.
Increased transparency within the police and judicial systems needs constant
support and monitoring.
·
Industrial workers should be provided with clinics, day care centers, and
improved health protection particularly related to sanitary and rooming and
working conditions of the workers.
·
Reporting requirements under the CEDAW convention need to be met in order
to show that the government is willing to eliminate discrimination against
women. CEDAW encourages full implementation of measures to ensure that the
rights to employment, rights to political and public life, equal rights, the
rights to social economic are truly protected.
The government should ensure adequate systems of implementation of rights
and continuing improvement in community education and access to information
about rights for women.
·
Ensure that there is an increase in the national budget for education
aimed at providing sustainable progress on gender issues, for example by
providing scholarships and dormitories for female students. Furthermore, the
budgets for health and for agriculture should be increased in order to provide
better medical services and livelihood conditions for women.
Strategies and budget allocations are needed to address the needs of
disabled women and children.
·
Gender database information should be established and disseminated widely
in order to provide useful indicators on progress in this area and to show
women’s contributions to the development of society.
·
There should be a quota for the number of women on commune councils, in
the National Assembly, and in government positions from the top to the local
level.
·
The government should provide more opportunities for women to be
recruited to ensure that they have equal opportunity to gain access to
decision-making positions.
· All development plans should have gender indicators and analysis, and a pro-poor gender strategy.
[1] Cambodia Gender Analysis Report, 2003. Royal Government of Cambodia in cooperation with UNDP, UNIFEM and the World Bank.
For
more information on the issues raised in this paper, please contact: |
The
Gender and Development Network, Tel: 023 215-137, Email: gad@online.com.kh
|
The Gender Forum of the NGO Forum on Cambodia |
Tel: 023 990-063, Email: ngoforum@ngoforum.org.kh |