Project profile

Women in Cambodia face a significant risk of gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual harassment (SH). Particularly vulnerable groups include young female migrants working in garment factories and entertainment settings such as hotels as restaurants. Marginalised urban women are often subject to violence and abuse including rape, sexual harassment, verbal abuse and robbery with violence, and limited action is taken by local law enforcement, employers or local authorities.

 

Protections for Marginalised Urban Women (PMUW) specifically targets female workers’ priority concerns around equitable access to GBV and SH protections, by mobilising key duty bearers to realise their responsibilities and support implementation of protections.  In doing so, interventions address key underlying causes of exclusion associated with duty bearer attitudes and practices. The project will work closely with MOWA and other government agencies to support hotel and restaurant owners and garment factory middle managers to implement locally appropriate, low cost GBV/SH workplace policies and mechanisms, in line with their obligations, and aligned with national labour law and policies.  To strengthen protections outside work settings, PMUW will support Commune Councils [CC] to work together with employers and others such as landlords, to take actions to strengthen protections at community level, again in line with their obligations and responsibilities.  The project will work with employers both at local levels, and with peak bodies, as a crucial means of gaining support and building momentum around changes introduced.

 

As part of CARE’s program approach, PMUW links closely with the Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities project to provide a deeper level of knowledge on the best ways to engage with key stakeholders, develop proven models and capture lessons learned to inform future activities.

 

Objective

 

The overarching goal of PMUW is that marginalised urban women in Cambodia, especially female migrants working in garment factories and hospitality/tourism industries, are benefitting from improved gender-based violence and sexual harassment protections in the workplace and outside work settings.  

 

Key activities

Project activities include:

 

• Developing and piloting a model for engaging with police on GBV

• Developing commune council standard operating procedures (SOPs)

• Supporting commune councils to implement GBV SOPs

• Supporting Commune Councils to engage with business owners, landlords, garment factory managers and other key stakeholders

• Establishing good practice workplace policy frameworks

• Supporting revisions to policies and policy guidelines

• Advocating to peak body industries to have GBV/harassment policies in the workplace

• Capacity building of officers from the Legal Protection Department of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs