When Cambodian women oppose the power of money
Cambodian woman.
Universal Images Group via Getty - BSIP
Text by: Juliette Buchez
4 min
Cases of discrimination, sexual harassment or violence against Cambodian women have regularly exploded on social networks in recent months.
Very often, they concern people who hold the honorary title of "okhna" granted only to influential people of Cambodia.
Publicity
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With our correspondent in Phnom Penh
,
The latest case that mobilizes Internet users begins with the arrest on May 8 of a young television presenter, Mean Pich Rita, also known as Yubi.
She is accused of stabbing and stealing
Okhna
Heng Sier's phone four days earlier.
This okhna title is not trivial, because in Cambodia it is attributed to influential people, often wealthy businessmen who have shown generosity to the state. During the interrogation, the young woman disputes the facts and accuses the
60-year-old
okhna
of attempted rape. She specifies that she was too ashamed to confide in or file a complaint until then. The case gains momentum when it reaches social networks where many cannot explain that the 20-year-old is in pre-trial detention while the okhna remains free.
Comments are surging through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter where the
hashtags
#JusticeForYubi #JusticeForWomen #StopViolenceAgainstWomen will dominate online trends.
Soon after, Yubi was released.
Investigations into the various complaints are now ongoing.
An emerging debate
In March, for example, there was the case of this policewoman reprimanded by her superiors.
Her fault: to have posted on Facebook a photo of her breastfeeding her baby in uniform.
On the contrary, many Internet users will show their support for this woman who proudly displays her role as a mother and a police officer.
The case goes back to the authorities and the situation reverses: it is she who finally receives an apology.
A few days later, another case still emerges on the networks. This time it concerns Duong Chhai, another
okhna
, whose ex-wife posts CCTV footage showing the man threatening and hitting her. Images that do not fit with the image of the perfect family conveyed by the
okhna
followed by two million people on Facebook. Faced with the scandal, he lost his prestigious title, but seems for the moment to escape justice.
Regarding the case between Mean Pich Rita and Heng Sier, elements that undermine the testimonies of the two defendants continue to circulate.
But whatever the result of the proceedings, the case reveals a desire to see a justice more detached from questions of reputation, fortune, power… and gender.
Cambodian "Me Too"
The speeches encouraging women and victims to express themselves on these questions are indeed more and more visible and assumed.
But in cases of violence, it is not uncommon to find comments justifying attacks by the behavior or appearance of the victims.
It should be remembered that in Cambodia many taboos remain on relations between men and women.
The weight of traditional mores also remains notable in a country where a bill to prohibit the wearing of short clothes for women was again discussed last year.
Nevertheless, a part of the population, in particular young and urban, today claims independence and the rights of women.
Whatever the outcome of the case involving Mean Pich Rita and
Okhna
Heng Sier, it therefore at least has the merit of opening the discussion and drawing public attention to these issues.
Chak Sopheap, director of CCHR
, an association for the defense of human rights, co-signed a statement following these cases
Our joint open letter requesting the authorities for legal action on cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment, and sexual violence against women.
pic.twitter.com/3EimhTuquD
- Sopheap Chak (@sopheapfocus) May 13, 2021
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