Education integral to gender goals

A woman sells food beside a road in Ratanakkiri province last month. Women in Cambodia are often relegated to the bottom of the employment ladder, including jobs such as informal vendors. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

Thursday, 20 September 2012
Mom Kunthear and Rachel Will
The Phnom Penh Post

Neang Panha, 48, sells bottles of water and sundry drinks in a roadside shop in Takeo province. In grade nine, her mother forced her to stop studying so she could support her brother and three other sisters.

“I did not have more chances to go back to school,” Panha said. “My mother just told me that I have to quit because we are poor.”

Panha said that if she had more opportunities, she would have liked to finish her education and work in an office. But for many Cambodian women battling poverty, issues of sustenance come before gaining an education.

A Millennium Development Goal Acceleration Framework action plan presented yesterday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) seeks to address Panha’s and other women’s lagging economic opportunities in Cambodia.

From Silence, to Voice, to Power

"This is my vital voice. Now raise yours!"

- Mu Sochua with others women around the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCIfFjp41I

Women in upper union positions vital

Garment workers make athletic apparel at a factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district last year. Photograph: Will Baxter/Phnom Penh Post

Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Shane Worrell and Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Female union leaders in the garment industry – where women constitute 90 per cent of the work force – are effective at bargaining for better working conditions, but their voices aren’t being heard in a union landscape dominated by men, a labour expert said yesterday.

Veasna Nuon, co-author of Building Unions in Cambodia: History, Challenges, Strategies, said even in factories where women are elected as union leaders, they are often unable to effect much change because bargaining usually takes place further up the union chain, where men hold most positions of power.

“In terms of union representation, there are more women at a lower level,” he said.

“But the number of women elected at federation level is less than 10 per cent,” he said. “They have . . . almost nothing when it comes to national representation . . . men are making decisions for women.”

Women sceptical of ASEAN

Workshop participants listen to speakers at the Cambodian Women Forum yesterday afternoon. Women have the most to lose from ASEAN integration, the forum says. Photo by Meng Kimlong

Thursday, 22 March 2012
Tep Nimol
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodian women have the most to lose from the planned 2015 ASEAN integration, a coalition of more than 100 Cambodian women said yesterday at the Cambodian Women Forum.

Because Cambodian women are so poorly educated, when the job market opens up, competition from other countries like Thailand or Malaysia will adversely affect the unemployment rate of Cambodian women, attendees said.

“The ASEAN integration in 2015 will badly affect Cambodian women, particularly in such areas as economics, industry, unemployment and external labour migration,” Thida Khus, executive director of SILAKA, said.

“This is because of how poorly educated women are.”

ស្ត្រី​និង​ការ​តស៊ូ - Cambodian women and their plight

2012-03-08
Radio Free Asia

មន្ត្រី​ជាន់​ខ្ពស់​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​កម្ពុជា បាន​អះអាង​ថា ស្រ្តី​ខ្មែរ​បច្ចុប្បន្ន​ទទួល​បាន​សិទ្ធិ​សេរីភាព​ពេញលេញ និង​យល់​ច្បាស់​អំពី​សារសំខាន់​ក្នុង​ការ​ចូល​រួម​អភិវឌ្ឍ​សង្គម​ជាតិ​ជាមួយ​ដៃគូ​បុរស។ ក៏​ប៉ុន្តែ​ទាំង​មន្ត្រី​សង្គម​ស៊ីវិល និង​គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង​មួយ​ចំនួន​អះអាង​ថា ស្ត្រី​និង​យុវតី​ខ្មែរ​ជួប​បញ្ហា​ច្រើន​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​រំលោភ​សិទ្ធិ​សេរីភាព ដូច​ជា​ការ​ជួញដូរ​ផ្លូវ​ភេទ អំពើ​ហិង្សា​ក្នុង​គ្រួសារ ភាព​ក្រីក្រ ការ​រើសអើង​ជាដើម។

High-ranking Cambodian government officials claimed that Cambodian women currently receive full freedom rights and they understand about the importance of social participation alongside men. However, civil society and opposition officials claimed that Cambodian women and young women are embroiled in the violations of their rights, sex trafficking, domestic violence, poverty and discriminations, etc…

ស្ត្រីជាជនពិការរស់នៅតំបន់បុរីកីឡា ដែលពុំបានផ្ទះរស់នៅក្នុងអាគារសង់ដោយក្រុមហ៊ុនផានអ៊ីម៉ិច តវ៉ានៅមុខសាលាខណ្ឌ៧មករា កាលពីថ្ងៃទី១ វិច្ឆិកា ឆ្នាំ២០១១។ RFA/Ouk Savborey

Handicapped woman from Borei Keial who did not receive housing compensation by the Phanimex company, protested in front of the 07 Makara district office on 01 November 2011 (RFA/Ouk Savborey)

តំណាងរាស្ត្រគណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី អ្នកស្រី មូរ សុខហួរ ជួបសួរសុខទុក្ខអ្នកភូមិបុរីកីឡានៅមជ្ឈមណ្ឌលព្រៃស្ពឺ កាលពីថ្ងៃទី១៨ មករា ២០១២។ អ្នកស្រី មូរ សុខហួរ ត្រូវប្រធានមជ្ឈមណ្ឌលព្រៃស្ពឺ ប្ដឹងពីបទរំដោះអ្នកភូមិបុរីកីឡា ១៨នាក់ ដែលសមត្ថកិច្ចចាប់យកទៅឃុំ ក្នុងពេលដែលពួកគេតវ៉ាទាមទារសំណងជាថ្នូរនឹងការបណ្ដេញចេញ។ RFA/Sek Bandith

SRP MP MU Sochua meeting with Borei Keila residents detained at the Prey Speu social center on 18 January 2012. Mrs. Mu Sochua is currently being sued by the director of the Prey Speu center who accused her of helping 18 residents escape from the center. The residents were detained when they were protesting to demand compensations for their evictions.

០១-មីនា-២០១១៖ ស្ត្រីអ្នកភូមិបឹងកក់ តវ៉ានៅសួនសេរីភាពបញ្ចេញមតិ នារាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ទាមទារឲ្យក្រុមហ៊ុនចិន ដែលវិនិយោគតំបន់បឹងកក់ ដោះស្រាយសំណងជាថ្នូរនឹងការបណ្ដេញចេញពីលំនៅ។ RFA/Khe Sonorng

01 March 2011: Women from Boeung Kak Lake protest at the No-Freedom Park to demand that the Chinese company involved in the development of Boeung Kak compensate them for their evictions.

អ្នកភូមិបឹងកក់ អ្នកស្រី ទេព វន្នី (រូបកាន់មីក្រូ) ឈរតវ៉ានៅមុខទីស្នាក់ការគណៈកម្មការអភិវឌ្ឍន៍តំបន់បឹងកក់ កាលពីថ្ងៃ៤ ខែមីនា ឆ្នាំ២០១១។ អ្នកស្រី ទេព វន្នី គឺជាអ្នកតវ៉ាយ៉ាងសកម្ម ដើម្បីទាមទារសុំរក្សាសិទ្ធិកាប់កាប់ផ្ទះសម្បែង និងដីធ្លីនៅតំបន់បឹងកក់។ RFA/Ouk Savborey

Tep Vanny (holding a microphone), a Boeung Kak Lake resident, protested in front of the Boeung Kak Lake Development office on 04 March 2011. Tep Vanny is an activist who demands for on-the-spot development in Boeung Kak Lake.

ស្ត្រីអ្នកភូមិបឹងកក់ ៤នាក់ (រូបពាក់កម្រងផ្កា) ត្រូវបានតុលាការដោះលែងឲ្យមានសេរីភាពវិញ នៅថ្ងៃ២៩ វិច្ឆិកា ឆ្នាំ២០១១។ ប៉ូលិសបានចាប់ខ្លួនស្ត្រីទាំង ៤នាក់នេះ ខណៈដែលពួកគេបានតវ៉ានៅមុខសាលាក្រុង អំពីបញ្ហាទំនាស់នៅតំបន់បឹងកក់ កាលពីថ្ងៃទី២៨ វិច្ឆិកា ២០១១។ RFA/Ouk Savborey

On 28 November 2011, 4 residents of Boeung Kak Lake (with flower garland) were released by the court on 29 November 2011. The cops arrested them when they were protesting in front of the Phnom Penh city hall regarding the Boeung Kak Lake land dispute.

១-មីនា-២០១២៖ កម្មការិនី អ៊ុន ចិន្ដា រងរបួសធ្ងន់ សម្រាកព្យាបាលនៅមន្ទីរពេទ្យកាល់ម៉ែត។ កាលពីថ្ងៃទី២០ ខែកុម្ភៈ ឆ្នាំ២០១២ កម្មកររោងចក្រកាត់ដេរ កៅវ៉េ (Kaoway) នៅក្រុងបាវិត ខេត្តស្វាយរៀង រាប់ពាន់នាក់ នាំគ្នាតវ៉ាទាមទារដំឡើងប្រាប់រង្វាន់ និងប្រាក់ថ្លៃបាយ។ ក្នុងពេលកំពុងតវ៉ាមានជនមិនស្គាល់មុខបាញ់រះមកលើក្រុមកម្មករ បណ្ដាលឲ្យកម្មការិនី ៣នាក់រងរបួស។ RFA/Sochivy

01 March 2012: Buot Chenda, a worker who was shot, was resting at the Calmette Hospital. On 20 February 2012, thousands of workers at the Koaway shoe factory in Bavet city, Svay Rieng province, protested to demand for bonus and food stipend. During the protest, an unknown man (it was the city mayor: Chhouk Bandit) shot at the workers, causing 3 injured workers.

កម្មការិនីរោងចក្រកាត់ដេរ ឈរទិញអាហារថ្ងៃត្រង់នៅខាងមុខសួនឧស្សាហកម្មវឌ្ឍនៈ នារាជធានីភ្នំពេញ កាលពីថ្ងៃទី១៧ ខែធ្នូ ឆ្នាំ២០១១។ អ្នកជំនាញសុខាភិបាលអះអាងថា អាហារដែលក្រុមកម្មការិនីទទួលទានប្រចាំថ្ងៃនេះ ជាចំណីអាហារដែលពុំសូវមានអនាម័យ និងខ្វះជីវជាតិ។ RFA/Khe Sonorng

Workers wait to buy food for lunch in front of the Vattana industrial park in Phnom Penh on 17 December 2011. Health officials said that food consumed by the workers lack hygiene and is not nutritious.

ស្ត្រីផ្សព្វផ្សាយស្រាបៀរអង្គររបស់ក្រុមហ៊ុនស្រាបៀរអង្គរ ខេមប៊្រូវ (Angkor Premium beer Cambrew) ធ្វើបាតុកម្មអហិង្សានៅមុខក្រុមហ៊ុន នៅថ្ងៃ២៥ កក្កដា ឆ្នាំ២០១១ ទាមទារឲ្យថៅកែក្រុមហ៊ុន បើកប្រាក់រំលឹកថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ តាំងពីឆ្នាំ២០០៧ ដល់ឆ្នាំ២០១០ ដែលពួកគេធ្វើការគ្មានថ្ងៃសម្រាក។ RFA/Ouk Savborey

“Beer girls” protest in front of the Angkor Premium beer Cambrew factory on 25 July 2011 to demand that the owner pay them for overtime work between 2007 and 2012. These women had to work 7 days per week without any rest.

ស្ត្រី សុខឿន អាយុ ៣០ឆ្នាំ មានកូនប្រុសតូចៗ ៣នាក់ ហើយប្ដីរបស់គាត់ទៅយកភរិយាថ្មីទៀតតាំងពីកូនទី៣ នៅក្នុងពោះបាន ៤ខែម្ល៉េះ។ លោកស្រីបានចាកចេញពីស្រុកកំណើតនៅខេត្តព្រៃវែង មកប្រកបរបររើសអេតចាយ ដើម្បីចិញ្ចឹមជីវិត និងកូនៗទាំង៣នាក់។ RFA/Ouk Savborey

30-year old Sokhoeun with her 3 children, her husband left her when she was 4-month pregnant with her youngest child. She left her native Prey Veng to scavenge for her survival and that of her children.

១២-វិច្ឆិកា-២០១១៖ ស្ត្រីអ្នកភូមិបែកពាំង នៅក្នុងខេត្តកំពង់ចាម លក់អីវ៉ាន់ចាប់ហួយនៅលើផ្លូវជាតិលេខ៦ និងកូនរបស់គាត់មករស់នៅជាមួយ ដោយសារផ្ទះទឹកលិច ហើយខ្វះខាតស្បៀងអាហារ។ RFA/Tin Zakariya

12 November 2011: A woman from Bek Paing village in Kampong Cham province sells her wares along National Road No. 6. Her children are staying with her because their house was flooded and they did not have enough to eat.

ស្ត្រី ត្រឹង ធី អាយុ ២៩ឆ្នាំ ជាអ្នកប្រកបរបរលក់ត្រីអាំងនៅផ្សារអូឡាំពិក រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ។ លោកស្រីមានប្រសាសន៍ថា លោកស្រីអាចរកប្រាក់ចំណូលបានគួរសមពីមុខរបររបស់លោកស្រី។ RFA/Mom Sophon

29-year-old Treung Thy sells baked fish at Olympic market in Phnom Penh. She said that she earns decent income from her business.

៣១-សីហា-២០១១៖ ស្ត្រីអ្នកភូមិក្នុងស្រុកកណ្ដាលស្ទឹង ខេត្តកណ្ដាល ដើរច្រូតស្រូវដែលទុំហើយត្រូវទឹកជន់លិច។ ទឹកជំនន់ពីស្ទឹងព្រែកត្នោត បានជន់លិចស្រូវប្រមាណ ២០០ហិកតារ ក្នុងឃុំចំនួនបី ស្ថិតក្នុងស្រុកកណ្ដាលស្ទឹង និងខណ្ឌដង្កោ រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ កាលពីអំឡុងខែសីហា ឆ្នាំ២០១១។ RFA/Sek Bandith

A villager from Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, harvesting her flooded rice crop. Flood water destroyed 200 hectares of crops in 3 communes of Kandal Steung district and Dankor district in August 2011.

Fight for Your Land-Use Your Collective Power

July 23, 2011
By Mu Sochua

Planting Democracy Seeds-Part 2

Rattanak Mondoul-Battambang Province-North West Cambodia

“My first husband died when he was just 25 years old. We had two children. We came to this part of the forest over 10 years ago. It was nothing but land mines. We were too desperate for land. Our young children watched their children blown up by a land mine”.

“I was clearing the forest and there it was: 3 land mines. I was so terrified, I was paralyzed. I will never forget that day”.

“The rich man tells me that I do not own this land, because I am too young. I say to him that I came with my father to plant these mango trees. I crossed this creek with my father every day. I know every parcel of this land. Do you?”

Cambodia: Women hit hard by wave of forced evictions [-The INJUSTICE of Hun Xen's regime]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0gYV4jXnI

Vanny, 31, helps lead community resistance to the Boeung Kak Lake eviction

(Amnesty International)

23 November 2011
Amnesty International

"My house, possessions, clothes, all went up in smoke. Nothing was left." - Mai, 48, a mother from north-west Cambodia on her forced eviction in 2009

Cambodian women are increasingly at the forefront of the battle against a wave of forced evictions sweeping the country, Amnesty International said today in a new report that urges the government to halt the practice.

Eviction and resistance in Cambodia: Five women tell their stories details, through first-hand testimony, the stories of Hong, Mai, Sophal, Heap and Vanny, women who have faced or continue to resist forced eviction from their homes and land.

“In Cambodia, women are at the forefront of the fight against forced evictions. Many have taken the lead in their communities’ struggle for justice, putting themselves at risk to defend their communities,” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director.

“The Cambodian authorities must bring about an end to the practice of forced evictions, which contravene international human rights treaties and tear families apart.”

Miech Sithika, first Cambodian woman graduate from West Point

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXz7cZr3egE&feature=channel_video_title

Don't mess with my 70-year-old Grandma!

Grandma Sao Run shows her Bokator skills (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

http://www.box.net/shared/z4u3xftomi8s9a1ya9qm

150 Women Who Shake the World: Mu Sochua from Cambodia

Source: The Daily Beast

150 Women Who Shake the World: Somaly Mam from Cambodia

Somaly Mam (Photo: Agnes Dherbeys / VII for NewsweekAdd caption

By The Daily Beast

She was raped at 12 and forced into marriage at 14. Or at least Somaly Mam thinks that was her age—abandoned as a baby, she’s not sure what year she was born. At 16 she was sold to a brothel, where she endured years of torture and was forced to watch a pimp shoot her best friend in the head. In 1991 she met and married a French human-rights worker and fled to Paris. But four years later she returned to Cambodia—and to the scene of her horrific abuse. Pretending to be a nurse for Doctors Without Borders, she infiltrated Cambodia’s brothels and handed out condoms. Later she founded an NGO that operates safe havens for victims of the sex trade in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. To date, the group has saved 4,000 women and girls. But Mam’s work is nowhere near done—there are some 50,000 sex slaves and prostitutes in Cambodia alone; worldwide at least 2 million are sold into sex slavery every year, a quarter of them young children. Despite these daunting numbers, nothing can deter Mam, petite and softspoken, from her crusade. In 2006, in a truly macabre warning to stop her crusade, her own 14-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped, and nearly sold into slavery. Once reunited, Mam took her daughter’s face in her hands and said: “You’ve suffered what you’ve suffered. Now you take that pain and you help others.”

150 Women Who Shake the World: Sokha Chen from Cambodia

By Richard E. Robbins
The Daily Beast

The city dump in Phnom Penh was the foulest 100 acres in Cambodia. The smell was nauseating, the smoke was choking, and the garbage itself was dangerous. Sokha Chen's legs still bear the scars of countless cuts, stabs, and burns from the four years she spent scavenging for bits of metal and plastic. But today those scars are covered by the bright yellow socks that are part of her uniform at Zaman Academy, one of Cambodia's best private schools. At 16, Sokha is a top student, as well as an accomplished classical dancer. Her life now would have seemed an impossible dream just a few years ago.

Sokha Chen (Photo: Agnes Dherbeys / VII for Newsweek) Orphaned at age 9, Sokha left her village for Phnom Penh, where one of the few ways a child can earn money is to pick through the dump. That's where Chicagoan Bill Smith found her three years ago. Smith had come to Cambodia a few years earlier to adopt. But instead of just returning home with one child, he wound up founding a center that is home to 100 children from the dump and surrounding slums. Called A New Day Cambodia, it gave Sokha her first real chance to show what she could achieve, not simply what she could endure. She has been moved to successively better schools as she outstrips the other students, demonstrating a remarkable talent for languages. What is most remarkable, though, is her resilience and her optimism. She doesn't mind talking about her painful past, but she prefers to describe the school she will open for poor kids, and the house she wants to buy for her sister. "I have a bright future," she says with a grin. "I want all Cambodian kids to have a bright future too."

Richard E. Robbins, a founding partner at The Documentary Group, is an award-winning producer and director who has been making films for more than a decade. His current project, 10x10, tells the stories of 10 girls coming of age in 10 countries across the globe—including the girl featured in this story, Sokha Chen.

Heroines of Cambodia

Monday, 07 March 2011
Youk Chhang
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

All female survivors of Democratic Kampuchea are heroines of Cambodia.

Seventy percent of the survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime were women; most of them were widows.

Since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, women have been a central force in the reconstruction of the nation.

They reshaped the nation’s economy during the tumultuous decades of the 1980s and 1990s, when civil war with the Khmer Rouge ensued and economic sanctions stunted chances for development.

Furthermore, it was through their unwavering efforts that Cambodian culture, education and traditions – which nearly vanished at the hands of the Khmer Rouge – were reinstituted in the social fabric of daily life.

MasterCard and Angkor Wat Hotel Join Forces to Train Local Cambodian Women

September 7th, 2010
By Leon Kaye
Triple Pundit

Southeast Asia’s economy overall is booming, but not all nations are benefiting from the same levels of investment and success. One nation that is lagging behind is Cambodia. Education and infrastructure are lacking, and poverty is still widespread, especially in the countryside. Business leaders see the garment industry as an opportunity to lift the country’s economic prospects, but not all investors are convinced: The World Bank ranks Cambodia 145th in its “Ease of Doing Business” rankings. And while tourism has increased, many locals do not share in the economic benefits. While visitors marvel at Angkor Wat’s countless temples and stay at posh hotels, women in the area are often relegated to work like construction, which can pay as low as US$1 a day for a long day of hard labor.

One opportunity that can help improve the lives of Cambodian women is sewing. Companies like J. Crew have launched successful product lines that were manufactured in Cambodia, and now there may be more steppingstones for more Cambodians in the future. Through November 30, MasterCard and Hôtel de la Paix will team up to fund a sewing school that will teach women the skills they need in order to support themselves. The funding will occur thanks to a US$50 donation that will be made for every Hôtel de la Paix bill paid with a guest’s MasterCard.

The Purchase with Purpose initiative could very well make a difference, but there are also pragmatic reasons behind boosting the skills of Siem Reap Province. Hôtel de la Paix is pricey, with rooms ranging from US$265 to $715 a night, an awkward sum in a country that ranks among the world’s poorest. Some locals—and visitors–have criticized the extravagance of the hotel, so the partnership with MasterCard is a step in building stakeholder engagement. Many visitors to Angkor Wat only stay for two nights, or even just fly in for the day from Bangkok, and have no clue about the local conditions. Funding a school can prove that the hotel is serious about engaging in the local economy.

But there lies another reason why MasterCard could be investing in a such a project. The scars of war and terror under the Khmer Rouge regime will fade, and Cambodia, which has average 8% to 10% annual economic growth in recent years, will witness a growing middle class. And around the world, women often make the financial decisions for their families. MasterCard will become well known to the women that benefit from the Hôtel de la Paix sewing school, and eventually those women and their families will join the economic ranks that have discretionary income. Meanwhile, similar educational programs covering environmental awareness and public health will occur as a result of MasterCard’s involvement throughout Cambodia. Overall, it is an example of how a hand up—not a hand out—can improve a region’s quality of life.

Kingdom's women in fast lane on the sporting front

Thursday, 26 August 2010
The Phnom Penh Post Staff

CAMBODIAN women are breaking free of social stigmas and disproving myths to succeed in the world of sports.

Vath Chamroeurn, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, says that over the past several years women have accounted for 30 percent of the total population of athletes representing Cambodia in international contests.

In 2009, Cambodian female athletes won one gold medal, four silver, and 13 bronze at the 25th Southeast Asian Games. Events included pétanque, tae kwon do, volleyball, weight lifting, and wrestling.

Lack Som Ath, general director of the General Department of Sports at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, said that Cambodian female athletes participated in as many as 20 sports. One shining example is Duch Sophorn – Cambodia’s finest player of pétanque (a form of boules), who has won gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions over the past decade.

Her success has inspired many young girls to pursue athletics but she admits it has come at a price in a society that she says views athletic-looking women as sterile and unattractive.

These are the countries Cambodia is depending on for development or is closely tied to

Mother of unfairly jailed woman in Cambodia: The mother (sitting on front row, left) of Mrs. Srey Meas who was unfairly sent to jail for uprooting border stakes planted in the middle of her rice field.

"These are the countries Cambodia is depending on for development or is closely tied to.

What is the message for democracy in Cambodia?

The Justice System in Cambodia

The use of force and the heavy presence of armed military police during public rallies or protests point to a government that does not tolerate public demonstrations of opinion.

Arrests without a court order is common practice.

Immediate detention following questioning by police is reason for people to live in fear of the justice system and of local authorities.

The families of those innocent prisoners must borrow money, sell their belongings in order to pay visit in the prison.

There is no stronger pain than to watch the eyes of the families of these innocent prisoners. One sees despair and zero sense of hope.

The remedy for the families is to provide them with moral support while they go through the endless days, months and years of awaiting for the release of their loved ones.

Judiciary reforms might have to start by getting the public to support the testimonies of the families who have the courage to speak out and put a public judgment on the leaders who have failed to uphold justice for their people.

Monitoring of the wealth of court officials might lead to accountability and some form of code of conduct of these officials and police.

These are only some actions that the people can take by using outside pressure for reform of the justice system in Cambodia.

The ultimate reforms can come when and if leaders are determined, committed and are held accountable to the delivery of rule of law and a justice system that upholds the principles of independence of the system.

Mu Sochua, MP
Sam Rainsy Party

Mothers of Women Prisoners of Conscience - Iran +

August 10, 2010
Elahe Amani with Lys Anzia
Women News Network – WNN

Iran protest movement poster. Image: via Payvand

“We are no different than one another.”

TEHRAN: Outside the prison walls of ward 350, in the IRI – Islamic Republic of Iran’s Evin Prison, a group of brave demonstrators hold placards and pictures of their loved ones who are part of a hunger strike. The demonstrators are mostly women – Iranian mothers, family and friends who have chosen to publicaly defend the rights and dignity of those incarcerated. As the days of the hunger strike continue, some of the prisoners have chosen to go without water. This is a dangerous proposition, but the stakes are critical. The treatment of prisoners in the IRI desperately needs greater humanity and reform.

The strongest human advocates many prisoners of conscience in the IRI have is the silent presence of the women who sit outside the solid doors of the prison for hours on their daily vigil. Many are mothers. Others are wives or sisters. Some are fathers, uncles, cousins and supportive friends. But one common goal is shared among them all. To gain the release of their loved ones.

“We requested a visit with the prosecutor some time ago, but have received no response,” said, Shahrzad Kariman, in an interview with Change for Equality, about prison conditions for her daughter, legal rights defender Shiva Nazar Ahari. “We have also requested an in person visit with our daughter in prison, on three occasions, but those requests have had no response either,” continued Shiva’s mother. “Currently we are able to visit with Shiva once a week but from behind a glass cabinet. It has been a long time since we had an in person visit with Shiva. I don’t know why the prosecutor does not allow us to have an in person visit with our loved one.”

Mothers of activists who have been arbitrarily arrested, detained or have suffered enforced disappearance are often left with immense grief and an unending sense of loss and desperation. Daring to speak out against government officials and leaders in their regions, they often suffer themselves from legal backlash and arbitrary arrests as threats to their imprisoned adult children and/or their families increase.

“Every minute I grieve for my daughter. I yearn to have her with me,” said Nora Shourd, mother of imprisoned U.S. hiker Sarah Shourd, in a recent one-on-one interview with U.S. based Iranian peace activist and journalist, Elahe Amani, for Women News Network (WNN).

During the interview Elahe and Nora talked about both their daughters who share the same age. Both are thirty-one years old. One is of Iranian descent, the other American. Both are graduates of the University of California Berkeley. Both are defenders of human rights.

Mothers of the U.S. Hikers

The July 31, 2009 arrest by IRI – Islamic Republic of Iran authorities (now over one year ago) of U.S. hikers Sarah Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer brought three mothers together – Nora Shourd, Laura Fattal and Cindy Hickey. After a year of full-time work campaigning for the release of their adult children, the mothers are feeling more frustrated than ever. Months of efforts have not changed the fact that their children have not come home. Answers to lift them from their imprisonment seem elusive.

Nora Shourd and three year old daughter, Sarah. Image: FreetheHikers.org

After seven months of waiting, on May 10, 2010, the U.S. hiker mothers were finally given permission to see their children for first time since their imprisonment. Before this, the only communications with their adult children that was allowed by IRI officials was only one five minute phone call.

“We are no different than one another,” said Nora in her interview with Elahe Amani of WNN as she shared her deep convictions. It is the same worry that all mothers of prisoners in the IRI share. Nora’s daughter, Sarah, has been in solitary confinement now for over one year. Nora worries about the health effects of solitary incarceration on her daughter.

The IRI must, “abolish the use of prolonged solitary confinement,” said Human Rights Watch in a detailed 2008 report called, “You Can Detain Anyone for Anything.” The inhumane practice of solitary confinement, “gravely subjects detainees to lasting psychological damage,” emphasized the report.

The answers to the problems are not simple. The solutions are not easy. Nora, along with the other U.S. hiker mothers – Laura Fattal and Cindy Hickey, worry pensively as current relations and tensions between the U.S. government and the IRI leadership volley back and forth. They fear their children may only be political pawns in a daily shifting international situation.

“As a young woman, Sarah began her activist career by going to Chiapas, Mexico to do peace work,” shared Nora about her daughter in her interview with Women News Network. “She worked through the Chiapas Support Committee to support much needed projects, such as water rights and improvement of the health care clinic. Sarah was also part of a woman’s collective that brought several of the mothers of murdered young women of Juarez, Mexico to California (U.S) to speak about their daughters (and) “Femicides.” Sarah went to New Orleans to also help after the Katrina hurricane disaster. She wrote extensively about human rights and women in Ethiopia, Yemen and Syria,” Nora added.

Faced with unofficial charges of espionage, Sarah, Josh and Shane have now reached a critical stage in their incarceration. They have been incarcerated for more than the one year. In December 2009, Manouchehr Mottaki, IRI Foreign Minister said, “They have entered Iran with suspicious aims. They will be tried by Iran’s judiciary and verdicts will be issued.” But to date no official court hearing or date has been legally filed in the court.

“When I saw Sarah (last May, 2010) I could see she was changed,” Nora told Elahe in her interview. “She is calm despite all the external pressure, but very very sad, lonely and depressed. Sarah, Josh and Shane have written us many letters, but we never get them, any of them. The last we heard they had their pens and papers taken away from them as a punishment.”

In a solitary cell Sarah composes songs and memorizes them on the endless days. When she saw her mother for the first time in months, in May 2010, she sang to her mother two of her original songs. “It was so moving to hear her beautiful, proud voice singing!” said Nora to Elahe.

The IRI mandate on prison terms and conditions states that solitary confinement comes under special IRI legal provisions. Although Sarah Shourd has been in solitary now for more than one year, the IRI State Prisons, Security and Corrective Measures Organization states that, “The laws governing the Prison Authority allow for disciplinary punishment of a maximum of 20 days (only) in solitary confinement.” Sarah is also suffering from a health condition that is not currently being treated while she is in prison.

“International penal standards dictate that solitary confinement should be imposed only for short periods, in an individualized fashion, under strict supervision (including by a physician) and only for legitimate penal reasons of discipline or preventive security,” said a 2008 Human Rights Watch report. “Prolonged solitary confinement of the detained or imprisoned person may amount to acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” said The UN OHCHR – UN Office Of The High Commissioner For Human Rights in 1992.

Burma’s Famous Mother

“Now I am numb,” said Burmese author and rights advocate, Sayamagyi Kyi Oo, after her son had been arrested four times for public acts in protest, statements and making critical social-satire jokes about Myanmar’s leading generals during his famed comedy performances. “What my son did was for the sake of the country. I don’t mind how many cases they charged my son with,” said Kyi Oo.

Author, activist, mother Sayamagyi Kyi Oo

“I feel the same way as other mothers whose sons also face the same fate,” added Kyi Oo as she shared her experience of being a mother of a political prisoner – a prisoner of conscience. All mothers of prisoners of conscience worldwide experience the same fate, the same frustrations, the same depressions.

Kyi Oo’s son, Maung Thura, rose to acclaim as the talented Burmese comedian and filmmaker who is known in public by the name Zarganar. In December 2008, after going in and out of detention for his outspoken activism, Zarganar was sentenced to thirty-five additional years of incarceration at the Myitkyina Prison. Today Zarganar’s is suffering from very poor health.

Struggling with her own serious condition with advanced gall bladder cancer, on March 20, 2009, Zarganar’s admired 83 year old mother, Kyi Oo, died. Before her death, even after concerted efforts, she was unable to get permission from Myanmar prison officials to see her son again for, “the last time.”

As witnesses to traumatic events in the political arrests of their children, many mothers of prisoners of conscience experience critical states of worry, prolonged lack of sleep, suicidal tendencies and anxiety – all symptoms of PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. These conditions constantly haunt them and severely affect their health and well being.

Is It Possible Not to Be Worried?

“Is it possible not to be worried?,” said Shahrzad Kariman, the mother of Iranian imprisoned human rights activist advocate Ms. Shiva Nazar Ahari, in a recent interview with International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Shiva Ahari's mother, Shahrzad Kariman, proudly holds up a photo of her daughter. Image: Roozonline.com

On the night of her daughter’s arrest Ahari’s mother describes the emotional torture of a mother who was also dealing with family health issues when she was told of the arrest of her child. “Her father and I were in very bad shape that night,” says Kariman describing the arrest of her daughter. “Her father had open heart surgery and was ordered to remain in a stable mental state. I was undergoing chemotherapy. They took our child from the day of her arrest on 14 June, 2009,” she continued.

“We were unable to have any news on her for 25 days,” added Shahrzad Kariman. “We went everywhere we could think of, the Revolutionary Courts and the Prosecutor’s Office. Many people had been detained and wherever I went there was a flood of people, just like myself, who didn’t know where their children were.”

“I went to Evin prison every week,” continued Shiva’s mother. “But each time they told me that Shiva was not allowed to have any visitors. She called me (from Evin Prison) 25 days after her arrest saying: ‘I’m well, Mom. Don’t worry about me. I am in solitary confinement in Ward 209.’”

On June 12, 2010, Shiva celebrated her birthday behind bars. “She is celebrating her 26th birthday in Evin Prison today – a name synonymous with the system of injustice that prevails in Iran. Colleagues and I will be remembering Shiva on her special day with a cake and birthday wishes,” said Ann Harrison, East Gulf researcher for Amnesty International. Shiva’s mother is still waiting for her release.

The Mothers of Tiananmen

After over 20 years of surveillance, phone tapping and filtered mail, 73 year old, retired university professor, Ms. Ding Zilin has not backed down in her attempts to find the truth in the events that lead to her son’s death. The Chinese mother of the 1989 slain high school student, Jiang Jielian, who was the first to die at the Beijing Tiananmen Square protests massacre, still hopes to find peace.

Mothers of Tiananmen grieve at 2009 commemoration service. Ding Zilin can be seen on far right. Image: The Mothers of Tiananmen

In the 1990s, after facing the grief and ongoing trauma from the loss of her son, Ding Zilin got together with one other mother who had also lost an adult child in the massacre at Tiananmen Square. The Tiananmen Mothers began then to grow to 150 mothers, and their families, banding together to provide support to each other as they urge Chinese officials to provide information in the unsolved investigations of their children’s arrest, death and/or disappearance.

According to The Tiananmen Mothers, sixty-four people, most of them young students, were killed during the Tiananmen protests in 1989. Others disappeared without a trace. Others were arrested and are still under penal custody. To date, the government of the PRC – People’s Republic of China in Beijing has not provided any transparent investigation into the allegations. In opposition to the request of the Mothers of Tiananmen, cases have been left unsolved with large and looming questions left unanswered.

In 2003, Ding Zilin was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her heroism and bravery. In 2005, she was arrested by PRC security forces and summarily released, along with two other Tiananmen Mothers, Ms. Huang Jinping and Ms. Zhang Xianling, as the government warned them not to attempt to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.

“Our group of ailing mothers know that time is running short,” said Ding Zilin in a very recent June 4, 2010 newsletter released by the Tiananmen Mothers. “But even on the edge of death we continue to move forward.”

“We believe that China today is at a critical point in time,” added Zilin recently during a plea to open public access in China to open and public freedom of information via the internet. “Is it (PRC – People’s Republic of China) striding forward or stepping back?,” asked Ding in her newsletter. “The decision must be, in accord with international practice in following the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, that (the PRC) not hesitate to defend its citizens’ freedom of speech… Freedom of speech is found in open media and access to information,” she stated with conviction.
Does Truth Matter?

“Families of disappeared persons (in Iran) seeking information from the authorities have been shown albums of photographs of the dead reportedly containing hundreds of photographs,” said a September 2009 Campaign Report on Human Rights by the International Campaign for Human Rights Iran. “Some have reported seeing “hundreds” of corpses in makeshift morgues,” continues the report. “Many bodies were reportedly buried in anonymous graves in Behesht Zahra cemetery overnight.” Does truth matter to the leadership in the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran?

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, in the gardens at the Schloss Leopoldskron following the 2007 Salzburg Seminar Session No. 433. Image: Wikimedia

“Truth matters. Responsibility matters,” said Time Magazine in a November, 2006, news campaign highlighting, 60 Years of Asian Heroes when Beijing hero, Ding Zilin, was placed on the cover of Time. Her face was placed on the cover series with the likes of 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known to the world as Mahatma Ghandi.

Truth is something Sara Shourd’s mother, Nora, wants to share with the world. “When Sarah, Shane and Josh were arrested it was not friendly,” continued Nora in her interview with Elahe Amani. “The border guards gestured for them to come over,” she continued, “fired shots and then came across and arrested them. Not friendly at all, (those) men with guns.”

Mothers and family members are often the only public voice of advocacy a political prisoner has left when legal representation is cut off and communication with prisoners is limited. The voice of a family member often takes the place of a prisoner who needs to report health conditions, or share unknown facts in their case.

On a recent campaign by the Mourning Mothers of Iran, a “truth-seeking commission” was suggested to be made up of “Iranian citizens and human-rights activists” to bring public transparency to investigations in the IRI cases of torture, death and cover-up of three Iranian students who were arrested and sent to their deaths in the notorious Kahrizak Detention Center in Tehran.

This is not the first time claims of crimes against humanity have surfaced connected to events at Kahrizak. Amid many rumors of torture and death at Kahrizak Detention Center, Ramin Pourandarjani, a 26 year old Iranian physician working once a week at Kahrizak Detention Center to complete his military service, was discovered dead, under “mysterious circumstances,” by his father after being called to Tehran police headquarters, November 10, 2009.

“Dr. Pourandarjani had been interviewed by a special parliamentary committee charged with investigating allegations of abuses during the post-election unrest. Before his death he reportedly received threats to prevent him from revealing the abuses he had witnessed at Kahrizak,” said a joint November 25, 2009, letter to the IRI Office of the Tehran Prosecutor, by Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights and International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “He (Dr. Pourandarjani) had also reportedly been forced to certify that one detainee had died of meningitis,” continued the letter.

Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture & other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment mentioned the ethical responsibility of doctors and health workers in a formal statement to the United Nations in 2006. “I take this opportunity to call upon medical doctors and other health professionals to fulfill their legal and ethical obligations towards torture survivors, including the obligation to document and report instances of torture and political violence,” he said.

“I have to say that I am really concerned about the situation (in Iran),” said Special Rapporteur Nowak, in a March 11, 2010 statement to Radio Free Europe. Nowak is also in favor of the closure of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo. In July 2010, IRI Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Kahrizak detention center to be permanently closed down.

A Mother’s Bravery on Human Rights

When the Mourning Mothers of Iran (Mothers of Laleh) went to protest the deaths of their adult children in public at Laleh Park in Tehran on a Saturday afternoon, January 10, 2010, they were arrested immediately and taken to Vozara Detention Center. In all, thirty-three mothers were placed in detention. Reports of harsh handling by the police was confirmed when nine of the Mothers were taken to two separate hospitals. Later, the Mothers were released, but the message by IRI security authorities was clear. Speaking out, marching and/or grieving in public and/or holding pictures of a loved one in public with a lit candle could create dangerous repercussions for the Mothers.

Parvin Fahimi, mother of killed post-election protester, Sohrab Arabi. Image: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran

“No culture permits such violence to be unleashed against mothers,” said Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

When Parvin (Ameneh Khatoon) Fahimi’s 19 year old son, Sohrab Arabi, went missing during the Iranian post-election street protests in June 2009, Parvin began an earnest search to find him. She didn’t know her search would last for 25 grueling days. The search ended, when Fahimi identified the body of her dead son in Tehran’s Prophet Hospital morgue. He had been shot dead before the many days of unanswered anguished questions.

After her son’s death, Parvin Fahimi, sent her voice out into the public with cries of injustice and calls for investigations. “I won’t remain silent,” said Arabi’s mother, Parvin.

“The Iranian government is determined to silence all dissenting voices,” said Claudio Cordone, Interim Secretary General for Amnesty International. Even though Parvin Fahimi was cautioned by Tehran police not to “memorialize” her son in public, she has recently released an important public statement, “I would forgive the murderers of my son on the unconditional release of political prisoners.”

Nora Shourd is still waiting to find out more about the charges in her daughter’s incarceration. “Two male interrogators control every minute, everyday of Sarah’s life,” explains Nora Shourd in her interview with Elahe Amani for WNN. “Sarah is anxious about the unknowns. Even with this, she dances alone in her cell. Sometimes, other women prisoners will walk by Sarah’s cell and try to talk to her. They whisper, ‘Sarah we love you, we love your mother, stay strong.’ I am sure this puts them in danger,” Nora continued.

“I lost Sohrab for the crime of freedom, love, and peace (in Iran),” said Fahimi. “Let remain and live the rest of the children of this land.”

Scroll Down Website Link to Video: http://womennewsnetwork.net/2010/08/10/norashourd-iranmoms/

Cambodia women see future in sports and big muscles [... and in fighting Hun Xen?]

Cambodia women are rising fast in the wide world of sports. Pétanque player Duch Sophorn has alone won gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions over the past decade.

July 16, 2010
By Kounila Keo, Contributor
The Christian Science Monitor
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“I have developed muscles and [I am] very strong. [If] men don’t like me, I don’t care, as long as I love myself” - Duch Sophorn, Cambodia’s finest player of pétanque (a form of boules), who has won gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions over the past 10 years

Cambodia women are breaking free of social stigmas and disproving myths to succeed in the world of sports.

Vath Chamroeurn, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, says that over the past several years women have accounted for 30 percent of the total population of athletes representing Cambodia in international contests. In 2009 alone, Cambodian female athletes won one gold medal, four silvers, and 13 bronzes in the 25th Southeast Asian Games held in Laos. Events included pétanque, tae kwon do, volleyball, weight lifting, and wrestling.

Lack Som Ath, general director of the General Department of Sports at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, says that Cambodian female athletes participate in as many as 20 sports.

One shining example is Duch Sophorn – Cambodia’s finest player of pétanque (a form of boules), who has won gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions over the past 10 years. Her success has inspired many young girls to pursue athletics. But she admits it has come at a price in a society that views athletic-looking women as sterile and unattractive.

“I have developed muscles and [I am] very strong. [If] men don’t like me, I don’t care, as long as I love myself,” says Ms. Sophorn.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Cambodian Women Movement

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Click here to sign the petition to support Mrs. Mu Sochua

KeoK’jay: Fair-Trade Eco-Fashion by HIV-Positive Women in Cambodia

In a country fraught with struggle and strife, hope has a new name: KeoK’jay. The socially conscious enterprise offers handmade, fair-trade designs with style to spare, while providing jobs for HIV-positive women in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. KeoK’jay’s woman-empowering business plan has room to grow, too. It’s one of 64—and counting—nominees for Nau’s 2nd Annual Grant for Change, which will award $10,000 to the next big thing in sustainable design.

06/15/10
By Victoria Klein
Ecouterre

Click here for additional information about KeoK'jay

PLANETARY CHIC
From dresses and T-shirts to tote bags and hand-embroidered napkins, all of KeoK’jay’s designs are created with Ma Earth in mind. Organic cotton, hand-woven recycled cotton, and secondhand fabrics are the heart and soul of all the pieces, topped with vintage embellishments and splashes of all-natural dyes.

KeoK’jay’s designs are made from organic cotton, hand-woven recycled cotton, and secondhand fabrics.

KeoK’jay currently employs nine HIV-positive women, who get to work from home on their own schedule. But the job benefits go beyond the women alone. With a consistent income, their children can attend school, ending the poverty cycle so many are stuck within. KeoK’jay also works in association with Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope to provide free healthcare to its employees and their families.

Currently only available by e-mail order or in select shops in Cambodia, KeoK’jay adds fresh meaning to philanthropic fashion. Best of all, it provides its artisans with something money can never buy: dignity.

Businesswomen Find a Friend in Facebook

Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Tuesday, 11 May 2010

“In the past, I was defeated many times. But afterward, I read information posted on Facebook, talking about the commitment and persistence of a restaurant owner to pursue her business, despite being defeated many times."

Around six month ago, Lim Viriya had abandoned her products distribution business—twice. The 29-year-old businesswoman from Siem Reap province nearly closed down her tour company, as she faced tight competition and thin profit margins.

Facebook saved her businesses.

“In the past, I was defeated many times,” she told VOA Khmer recently. “But afterward, I read information posted on Facebook, talking about the commitment and persistence of a restaurant owner to pursue her business, despite being defeated many times. She advised that with any kind of business, no matter how little we earn, as long as we persist, we will not fail.”

The site’s Cambodia Women in Business page encouraged her to carry on with her ventures, she said, and, since December 2009, things have been looking up.

The Facebook page was the initiative of the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, which thought social networking could help Cambodian women looking to start their own businesses.

Cambodian women face a number of challenges starting or expanding their businesses. With often lower educations, they must make sense of regulatory information, and they have an uphill struggle against family values that disapprove of women in business.

Now the page has more than 300 members, many of them owners of small- or medium-sized businesses. There are female students, employers and researchers. Men are not excluded.

The page includes photographs of various businesses run by women and discussions about the challenges they face, such as difficulties with registration. It has suggestions on ways women can gain the support of their husbands. It includes market research, product prices and business management strategies. Members post articles on national and international businesswomen.

The page does have limitations. It is run in English, on the Internet, excluding many Cambodian women who can’t read English or don’t have access to the Web.

Still, IFC project manager Lil Sisambat says she’s confident it is helping.

“Facebook creates energy and a lot of ideas about how to do more business, to do better business and to have a way to solve the problems women are facing,” she said. “If one woman who starts a business faces difficulties, other women can help her online. So I think it is a very good source of support to make the environment easy to do business.”

Seng Stephene, an employee of a private business in Phnom Penh who wants to open a communication company, only joined Facebook a month ago. With it, she said, she learned how to start her own business and how to study the market.

Women who already have successful businesses, meanwhile, share their experiences.

“The moment that women face harder problem in their businesses, it will make them become stronger and be successful,” said Heng Chenda, manager of KNN Handicraft. “So, please, all women, behave with a strong commitment.”

Women play an important role in economic growth, and private enterprise is the main driver of economic development in Cambodia. It accounts for 92 percent of total jobs in the country, according to a 2008 study by the IFC. In those, women accounted for 55 percent of all business owners, mainly with micro- or small-sized ventures.

With Cambodian men the primary owners of medium and large businesses, women do not fulfill their potential as job creators, nor as developers of human resources—nor as taxpayers.

A network site like Facebook can help them put their voices together, said Veronique Salze-Lozac’h, the regional director of economic programs for the Asia Foundation.

“If they can actually find enough women to say, ‘Yes, this is really a problem,’ then they can come together and try to contact to the government to improve their situation,” she said. “So Facebook can be a very useful tool for businesswomen to push for some reforms.”

However, because of its unofficial nature, Ty Makara Ravy, an active member of the site, thinks the government may not take it seriously.

That may not be so. Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavy, after all, reads the page. She told VOA Khmer the concerns and challenges she finds there could help steer government policy.