"No one dares to rape the rich": the "rich and poor" defense system behind Cambodia's sexual violence

Sexual violence is defined in international law as sexual violence including rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization or other acts equivalent thereof.

Recently, a number of rape cases have caused media reports, and 113 related contents have appeared in the search for "rape" as a keyword on the Cambodian single network. As the director of the Cambodian Human Resources and Rural Economic Development Organization said, rape is a regular occurrence in Cambodia.

In the reports of "sexual violence" in Cambodia, young victims are emerging one after another. It is understood that most victims are not even willing to report the crime. The growing problem of rape has exposed the truth that women remain vulnerable and that poverty is the root of all evil, hidden behind sexual violence.

Reporter: Wei Qimeng

Editor: Xie Shanlong

"Men are like gold, women are like cloth"

Women in vulnerable positions

On the afternoon of 25 March, a brother-in-law in Battambang province was arrested for raping a 14-year-old girl.

On the afternoon of March 30, a Cambodian man was arrested by local police on suspicion of raping an underage girl in Panjie County, Budi Mianzhi Province, and the victim was only 12 years old.

At 2 a.m. on April 3, in Salad Old County, Biering Province, a YouTube man cheated and raped 2 underage girls several times, and the victim's family found out and called the police.

On the morning of April 19, in Yantian County, Guogong Province, a Cambodian man was reported by his wife for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter

...

These heinous rape cases have only been reported by the Cambodian media for nearly a month. Outside of the report, as around the world, most rape cases go unpunished.

Reports from around the world indicate that the vast majority of victims of rape and sexual violence are women: the unequal status of women is the cause and consequence of their violent treatment.

The Khmer proverb "Men are like gold, women are like cloth" clearly expresses the lower status of women in society than men.

Despite the changing times and the changing role of women in the family and their participation in society, men still dominate the public sphere. Although women are the "leaders" of family affairs, and most of them live in women's homes after marriage, they still live under the shade of men.

In recent years, the participation of women in public spaces, notably in economic activities, has increased significantly, especially in traders or other small transactions.

In the garment export industry over the past 10 years, women's share of the labour force has increased from 80% to 85%. But at the same time, they continue to obey men.

In the Khmer tradition, a good traditional Khmer woman is defined as follows: gentle, weak, obedient... Stereotypical social mainstream values limit women's freedom and rights.

The idea that women need to maintain chastity before marriage used to be quite common in Cambodia: a good woman should be a virgin before marriage and spend her life with the same partner.

The poison of this ideology greatly increases the sense of shame and fear of being gossiped about by others, and their initiative to report the crime is greatly reduced. The victim guilt theory greatly "condones" the arrogance of perpetrators of sexual violence.

The objective difference between social status and body shape makes the phenomenon of inequality between men and women derive from the "misogynistic thinking" of some men discriminating against women, and the serious ones will develop into crimes against women violently. In its Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations General Assembly stated that violence against women remained one of the important social mechanisms, forcing women to be subordinate to men.

Forcing women to be subordinate to men makes male aggression "taken for granted" by men. This means that women are always in a vulnerable position.

Conversely, society is surprisingly tolerant of men having multiple sexual partners, and even many wives can tolerate their husbands calling prostitutes.

There is also a part of society that agrees that men's sexual needs are uncontrollable, which also weakens the rapist's moral guilt for sexual violence to some extent.

Cambodia experienced war and did not begin to rebuild until the early 1990s, in a context where social and cultural norms are weak and chaotic cultural systems breed hotbeds of "sexual violence". These uncertainties make women and girls more vulnerable to violence, including rape.

Poverty is an accomplice

A systematic defensive barrier for the rich

Chantha, 14, was raped by her 40-year-old stepfather, and her mother filed a complaint with the district police a few days later. Although the police arrested her stepfather, they released him a few days later.

"I don't understand why, but he must have bribed the police, he knew the officers, and I believed he gave my mother some money." Chantha said.

Chantha's case is not unique. According to Cambodian media sources, on the morning of February 19, a man was arrested by local police for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter in Wuzu County, Budi Mianzhi Province.

In Cambodia, nearly a third of rape cases involve a suspect who is related to the victim, but many of the alleged perpetrators are not fully prosecuted by law.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Coalition for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights report found that family pressures and financial dependence on the perpetrators had led many victims to withdraw their prosecutions.

Hou Samith, secretary general of the Cambodian National Commission for Women, said: "No one dares to rape a rich man.

The rich, who are better educated, have a better sense of self-preservation. At the same time, the systematic defensive barriers to sexual violence formed by money, education, and resources make their safety better guaranteed, and the probability of sexual violence is greatly reduced: the perpetrators know that the rich can get more comprehensive and systematic protection, and hurting them will pay a huge price, including imprisonment or other forms of retaliation, so they dare not do it.

According to Amnesty International, the risk of rape and other sexual violence is higher for most women and girls living in poverty, and their inability to defend themselves and their interests increases.

At the same time, poverty greatly increases the risk of "sexual violence" for sex workers.

In November 2009, sex worker Pheap was raped by five men in their 20s on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. They beat her, broke one of her hands and stole some of the money. But she did not choose to call the police, and the perpetrator told Pheaap that she was lucky not to be killed and that the sex worker was to blame for the rape.

Because sex workers often imply poverty and are more socially discriminated against, they are often targeted by rapists. Coupled with the fact that in Cambodia, trade between men and sex workers is generally accepted by society, so the rape of sex workers is extremely common, but the reporting rate of sex workers is very low.

At the same time, in rural Cambodia, where the economy is more backward, sexual violence is clearly more common than in cities, because prisoners are more likely to extend the hand of the devil to poor families. Perpetrators believe that they lack the ability to resist, and the reality of poverty often leads many people to choose to be patient because of economic problems after experiencing sexual violence, and will not go to the police.

The time spent during the alarm, the traffic costs incurred in going to the police station, and the enforcement of the law enforcement agencies - whether the criminal can be successfully punished after the alarm - these make it impossible for the victims to have enough trust in them and have some scruples about reporting the crime.

Most of the respondents told Amnesty International that they had paid bribes to police officers or had been asked to pay bribes but had no money.

Generally, the police will require the victim to pay a certain amount before starting the investigation, but many victims are unable to pay the amount. Most people who have been sexually abused believe that the perpetrators are better off than their own economically.

Vanna, who was only 15 years old, was raped by a villager, and after her parents reported the crime, the police arrested the man.

However, court officials and the police bypassed the judicial system and arranged for prisoners to pay compensation to the victims and their families and then release them. Vanna then moved to the shelter. "I didn't dare go home, the man was released for paying a bribe, and that's not right"

Suspects can take bribes to seek out-of-court reconciliation and then be released, which for the victims, they are afraid of being violated twice, so they are afraid to confront the perpetrators and can only remain silent.

A woman who suffered sexual abuse from her father in her childhood said: "Our society has formed such an atmosphere that you dare not resist and dare not say, then every silent person is actually an accomplice." ”

(This content is the original work of the "Cambodia Single Network APP" client, please contact customer service Xiao Qian for authorization, reproduced without permission, it will be regarded as plagiarism infringement)

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