Report
In March 2010, Human Rights Now (HRN) conducted a survey on violence against women in Cambodia, as part of the ‘Violence against Women Project’. The survey was carried out after the adoption of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims, at the National Assembly of Cambodia, in October 2005, the survey focused on the situation surrounding domestic violence within Cambodia. The subsequent report on Violence Against Women in Cambodia has now been released.
Cambodia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1992, and the government is therefore obliged to protect women from violence and discrimination. However, domestic violence continues to be a serious problem in Cambodian society. When the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims was passed in 2005, it was expected that the Cambodian government, courts, and NGOs would endeavor to prevent and protect women from ill-treatment.
Although five years have passed since the introduction of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims, this law is yet to be widely used to provide substantial protection for women. It has not been fully enforced. The situation is further complicated by obstacles that lead to a situation where the law is not widely understood, including by significant groups of people, including the judiciary responsible for enforcement of the law and Cambodian women themselves. As a result, the legal system is not fully able to prevent domestic violence or provide adequate protection.
Over the course of this research, we investigated the actual situation of domestic violence in Cambodia and how the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims has been utilized to prevent it. We identified areas where the Law is not functioning properly, and explored the reasons for these shortfalls in more detail, before examining appropriate solutions.
The report includes various recommendations to the government of Cambodia, law enforcement agencies, the courts, police and also relevant development actors and donors.