By Ung Chanspohea
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Women receive bad press in Cambodia. That was what representatives of NGOs specializing in sex equality issues said during a morning of debates organized by the Women Media Center (WMC). The debate was held with the participation of about 30 reporters from the printed news media, as well as from radio and TV.
Pok Panhavichet, the woman director of the Canadian office of cooperation, cited several news articles reporting cases of unfaithful wives. These articles are taking center stage whereas men unfaithfulness is barely shown on the sidebar. “Unfaithful wife received 15 hits with a stick while she was sleeping with her lover,” was the title of a recent newspaper in Phnom Penh. “You can find such accusations in the news media only about women, whereas this kind of stories also happens to men. Your article must respect the notion of equality of the sexes before publishing them,” Pok Panhavichet suggested to the reporters. “Discriminations do not help raise women’s position in society”.
Even if the observation is true, scandals involving unfaithful women sell newspapers more than extra-marital affairs of men, who are traditionally known for being fickle. “A man with several women, it’s something mundane for the public. And thus, it becomes difficult to write about them, with the exception of high ranking men. Whereas, when a woman is unfaithful, it attracts the readers …. My company tried to launch a magazine dedicated to women who are fighting each other for success, but after a few publications, it closed down. It didn’t sell….” a reporter patiently explained. According to this reporter, there’s only one solution left: “publishing news articles less harsh on women.”
Referring to the same woman’s affair article, Ros Sopheap, the women director of the Gender and Development for Cambodia NGO, mainly deplored “excerpts which report very vulgar erotic scene between the woman implicated and her lover.” “To me, this is sexual information, but it’s in a news article! It’s unacceptable!”
Pok Panhavichet then raised the cases of blackmailing by some reporters who threaten to reveal some women’s private life.
“If mistakes are made, they should be reported to our editors because they are the ones who decide to publish this kind of articles,” one of the reporters said. Other reporters followed suit, stressing that it was difficult for them to raise women’s place [in society] in their articles when the country’s leaders themselves are not interested in these social issues. “They are interested only in issues affecting them directly. For us, we try to write as much as possible about killed actresses, about girls skipping schools to go to Bubble Tea … but the authorities do not react at all,” one of the reporters concluded.
Pok Panhavichet, the woman director of the Canadian office of cooperation, cited several news articles reporting cases of unfaithful wives. These articles are taking center stage whereas men unfaithfulness is barely shown on the sidebar. “Unfaithful wife received 15 hits with a stick while she was sleeping with her lover,” was the title of a recent newspaper in Phnom Penh. “You can find such accusations in the news media only about women, whereas this kind of stories also happens to men. Your article must respect the notion of equality of the sexes before publishing them,” Pok Panhavichet suggested to the reporters. “Discriminations do not help raise women’s position in society”.
Even if the observation is true, scandals involving unfaithful women sell newspapers more than extra-marital affairs of men, who are traditionally known for being fickle. “A man with several women, it’s something mundane for the public. And thus, it becomes difficult to write about them, with the exception of high ranking men. Whereas, when a woman is unfaithful, it attracts the readers …. My company tried to launch a magazine dedicated to women who are fighting each other for success, but after a few publications, it closed down. It didn’t sell….” a reporter patiently explained. According to this reporter, there’s only one solution left: “publishing news articles less harsh on women.”
Referring to the same woman’s affair article, Ros Sopheap, the women director of the Gender and Development for Cambodia NGO, mainly deplored “excerpts which report very vulgar erotic scene between the woman implicated and her lover.” “To me, this is sexual information, but it’s in a news article! It’s unacceptable!”
Pok Panhavichet then raised the cases of blackmailing by some reporters who threaten to reveal some women’s private life.
“If mistakes are made, they should be reported to our editors because they are the ones who decide to publish this kind of articles,” one of the reporters said. Other reporters followed suit, stressing that it was difficult for them to raise women’s place [in society] in their articles when the country’s leaders themselves are not interested in these social issues. “They are interested only in issues affecting them directly. For us, we try to write as much as possible about killed actresses, about girls skipping schools to go to Bubble Tea … but the authorities do not react at all,” one of the reporters concluded.
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