Women's Rights Office
advocacy and reform by and for women

 Go to Photo AlbumWomen in Cambodia face numerous challenges and dangers, including gross human rights violations. Many of the problems are related to the different values assigned to men and women in Cambodian society. Men occupy positions of importance and power, and are not censured for their frequent use of violence within the family. The lower social status of women, on the other hand, means many are treated as mere possessions or objects, and are denied their rights and full participation in society.

Domestic violence, rape and human trafficking for sexual exploitation are among the most serious violations of women's rights in Cambodia.

Domestic violence has largely gone unchecked in Cambodia, where cultural norms dictate that relations between husband and wife are internal affairs. Surveys conducted in 2000 have shown that one-in-six women have been beaten by their husbands, and one-in-four have suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse from their husbands. Abuse of children in families is also common, though statistics are not yet available.

In September 2005, the National Assembly and Senate approved the long-awaited Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims. This new legislation gives police greater powers to intervene in domestic violence cases and strengthens the legal recourse available to victims. This law is welcomed by LICADHO but more work needs to be done to ensure it is properly utilized to protect and empower women.


 Go to Photo AlbumHuman trafficking involves moving women from their communities and homes into exploitative forms of labor - usually sex work - through coercion or deception. Often women are promised work as a waitress, domestic worker, or garment worker, but instead they are sold into bonded labor in which they must work to pay debts at extremely high rates of interest. In other cases, women are sold directly by a family member to a trafficker or brothel owner. Once a woman has become a sex worker, social stigmas attached to sex work make it very difficult for her to reintegrate into society. Presently, the Women's Rights Office is advocating for a Human Rights Trafficking Draft Law.

LICADHO's Response

LICADHO Women's Rights Investigator

Investigating abuses cooperatively

The Women's Rights Office cooperates with the Monitoring and Children's Rights Offices to investigate and monitor women's rights abuses. Cases also come directly from victims and witnesses, referrals from other NGOs or police or the media. In some serious cases, the victims require access to a safe house. Most victims are poor and lack knowledge of the legal system, so the Women's Rights Office provides legal advice, helps women make a legal complaint if they desire, finds a lawyer from resources like the Cambodian Defender's Project (CDP), and pursues the case with the court and police to try to secure appropriate legal action against offenders.

Increasing community awareness on women's issues

From each workshop, the Women's Rights Office invites participants who are strongly committed to women's rights to join the Women's Rights network. Network members in each community receive further training, and become resources for their community. These networks support victims in times of crisis, increase the level of reporting of abuses, strengthen the protection of local women and help all members of society - men and women - to embrace women's right concepts.

Like the Human Rights Education Office, the Women's Rights Office coordinates three-day training workshops with specific target groups, providing tools to promote the rights of women. Each of these workshops is followed up with a day-long course two months later.

From each workshop, the Women's Rights Office invites participants who are strongly committed to women's rights to join the Women's Rights Network. Network members in each community receive further training and become resources for their community. These networks support victims in times of crisis, increase the level of reporting of abuses, strengthen the protection of local women and help all members of society - men and women - to embrace the concepts of women's rights.

Radio roundtable with CAMBOW representative

Promoting and implementing outreach advocacy activities

The Women's Rights Office conducts a wide range of advocacy activities to bring women's rights issues to the forefront of the human rights agenda in Cambodia and to promote new laws that protect women. The office has produced book about rape for court officials, a television advertisement on the three main women's rights issues, and public programs surrounding the annual International Women's Day and the 16-Day Campaign Against Violence Against Women campaigns.

A new two-year pilot project called Community Ownership of Women’s Rights is under way in Kandal province. A baseline study will gauge the understanding of women’s rights in the community, followed by seminars on domestic violence, trafficking and rape. Explaining the implications of the new Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims will be a key part of the project.