Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

Case Studies
to address the problem. Mr. Heng Vong Bunchat,
senior member of the Council of Jurists (Council
of Ministers), was so moved by the stories he heard
that he eventually returned the draft to the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs and instructed them
to include language on criminal penalties. Thus,
the workshop and inclusion of real victims’ stories
paved the way for incorporating penalties into the
draft.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs asked
CWCC, PADV, and CDP to revise the draft along
with UNCHR. All inputs from NGOs were sent
through UNCHR as a formal channel to the
government. MoWA forwarded the new draft to
the Council of Ministers, which drafted a new law
based on the original. The current version has a
vague definition of domestic violence. Apparently,
Council debates on the articles took a long time –
in a two-day period only five of 47 articles were
reviewed. Further discussions have addressed a
total of 14 articles.
The next steps will be to analyze the most
recent draft and outline a lobbying plan, especially
as the new draft will be submitted to the National
Assembly soon. NGOs plan to organize a workshop
for lawmakers in collaboration with the MoWA.
They also plan to have individual meetings with
lawmakers, in particular, members of the legal
committee. The National Assembly has already
asked NGOs to make a presentation on domestic
violence at one of their sessions.
Lobbying of members of the National
Assembly was done informally through
acquaintances and contacts, as Parliamentarians
claimed they were too busy to meet with lobbyists.
For example, lobbyists were able to meet
Parliamentarians at a conference on
Parliamentarian Advocacy for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women organized by UNFPA in
Bangkok in 2001.
Strategies & Lessons Learned
During the advocacy process, domestic
violence advocates have employed innovative
strategies and learned valuable lessons, including:
• During initial efforts at getting legislation
passed, NGOs did not have enough experience to
know that they needed to mobilize public support
and raise public and government awareness of the
domestic violence problem. As a result, the
campaign failed.
• By researching and documenting domestic
violence and by asking victims of abuse to come
forward and tell their stories, NGOs have
generated legitimacy and sympathy for the
domestic violence movement.
• The Cambodian Men’s Network also
participated in the advocacy effort, explaining why
a domestic violence law is useful. This was a
deliberate strategy to gain support for the law by
having men (instead of only women) explain why
it is needed.
• The inclusion of domestic violence-related
questions in the 1999 national health survey added
legitimacy to the issue.
• Networking with Parliamentarians,
especially women Parliamentarians, was a critical
part of this advocacy campaign. International
conferences presented good opportunities for
lobbying Parliamentarians.
• In addition, NGOs and the MoWA
successfully lobbied a senior member of the
Council of Jurists at the Council of Ministers.
Obstacles to Success
Domestic violence advocates also
encountered several obstacles to success:
• At this time, women still do not know that
marital rape is a violent crime and do not report it
to the authorities. Even in the rare cases when they
do, there is no enforcement of criminal penalties,
as law enforcement agencies still believe that this
is a husband’s right.
• One of the main obstacles to success of
domestic violence education and other advocacy
activities is the low self-esteem and confidence of
abused women.
• Domestic violence victims are generally
completely dependent on their husbands for
shelter and livelihood. This makes it difficult (if
not impossible) for victims to contemplate action
to extricate themselves from their situations.
• Legislative lobbying on women’s issues is
hampered by a lack of professional legal
counselors.
• Some NGO workers are not convinced that
a domestic violence law is necessary because rape
will be dealt with severely under the new penal
code. They do not understand that Cambodian
women do not see the threat of penalties for rape
crimes as an effective deterrent to domestic
violence.
Organizing Commercial Sex Workers
and Legalization of Prostitution
There is no reliable estimate of the number
of commercial sex workers (CSWs) operating in
Cambodia. A study conducted by
Parliamentarians in 1998 puts the figure at 14,000
in Phnom Penh alone, while the Cambodian
Women’s Development Association (CWDA)
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