To coincide with the Official Launch of the National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women 2014-2018 by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, CARE is pleased to announce the publication of a new report on its work with marginalised women in Cambodia to reduce gender-based violence.
CARE has spent many years working to address gender-based violence in Cambodia, with notable success in reducing the amount of sexual harassment experienced by beer promoters. Working across multiple sectors has been key to this success. The publication highlights the progress of CARE’s Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities project, funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which expands upon CARE’s proven model to reach more women such as those working in the garment industry.
CARE’s many areas of engagement include working with women, community members, the private sector, local authorities and government ministries. These five primary sectors each have their individual successes to celebrate and hurdles to overcome. The report includes insight into some of the ongoing challenges of working with each group—such as lack of clear legal definitions, barriers to reporting cases of violence, and measuring the business benefits of reduced sexual harassment in the workplace.
A particular focus within the report is on the benefits of developing of standards—whether these are beer company regulations, codes of conduct to prevent to sexual harassment in garment factories, or standard operating procedures for police when responding to reports of gender-based violence. CARE showcases the impacts of ongoing efforts in these areas through individual perspectives from many of the people involved. This includes featuring beer promoters, factory managers, commune representatives, and government ministers.
CARE hopes the examples included and the lessons learned will help inform the efforts of organisations across Cambodia who are working together top end gender-based violence.
Read SAFE WORKPLACES, SAFE COMMUNITIES: CARE’s work with marginalised women in Cambodia to reduce gender-based violence >
CARE’s gender-based violence efforts focus on two main projects: Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities, funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and Protections for Marginalised Urban Women, which is funded by the Australian government. Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities aims to reduce GBV and sexual harassment in Cambodian workplaces and communities and provides a wide reach across many industries in Phnom Penh. CARE’s Protections for Marginalised Urban Women complements this by undertaking additional research and analysis as well as engaging with key stakeholders to improve the protections available to women.