I ended my previous blog by quoting a report about the struggle in Latin America to eliminate violence against women. A friend had written:
“Reposting. And I plan to keep on posting this yearly until more are familiar with the names of the Mirabal sisters and their story… and how November 25th became the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women…”
This is serious. The political and feminist struggle, ending with the assassination of the Mirabal sisters, is more than a friendly reminder like: “Everybody should be nice to women!” When the word “elimination” is taken seriously – to eliminate means to completely eradicate something – it is obvious that the name of the memorial day of 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is calling for something that is very different from the world in which we live.
Even the announcement by the UN Women website has two different orientation. On the one hand, it spells out the reality clearly: “One in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death.”
On the other hand, the site presented to guide actions for the 16 days of “Actions to End Violence Against Women and Girls” – there is a tremendous amount of activity resources presented.
But there were also some simply optimistic ideas: Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now! – “Several public events are being coordinated and iconic buildings and landmarks will be ‘oranged’ to recall the need for a violence-free future. To raise awareness, this year’s theme is “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!”. Orange is our color to represent a brighter future free of violence against women and girls. Be part of the orange movement!”
But where did this actually happen that public buildings were “oranged”, to “recall” the need for a future without such violence.
Any international campaign, for whatever purpose, cannot be effective in many places if it does not relate – positively of negatively – to something that is easily captured by everybody.The Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls may need much more than that.
The symbol ofthe 16 Days of Actions – in 2007 – Take Back the Tech – is “a call to everyone, especially to women and girls, to take control of technology to end violence against women”, and to claim an equal position for women in the field of Internet and Communication Technology – ICT – and not to allow ICT to be used to do violence against women.
Take Back the Tech provided also an example in Cambodia, how traditional concepts about how women are expected to behave, moderated and weaken the intended dynamics. The Cambodian traditional document Chbab Srey – “Code for Women” attributed to King Ang Duong in 1837 – describes how a perfect Cambodian woman should behave. Only in 2007 the full text of this document was taken out of the school curriculum, though a shorter version is part of the material about Khmer literature for students in grades 7 to 9, but the full text is kept in many school libraries for reference.
Some examples of the Code:
- Be respectful towards your husband
- You must serve and respect your husband at all times and above all else
- ou must be patient and eat only after the men in your family have finished
- School is more useful for boys than for girls
- Women should walk slowly and talk softly
- Your skirt must not rustle while you walk
A research in 2015 in the province of Siem Reap showed that the Chbab Srey is still a force: “Between 93 and 97 percent of teachers and 76 and 79 percent of students agreed with the following statements: “The Chbab Srey must be taught to all students,” “The Chbab Srey represents Khmer culture,” and “Good women are those who follow and respect the Chbab Srey.”
“Participants in the evaluation described female students as “sweet” and “shy,” and identified gender-specific jobs, such as being a driver or an engineer, that were inappropriate for “weak” and “vulnerable” girls.”
So what about “Take back the Tech” in Cambodia?
The organizations participating in the campaign in many countries had all this logo of a happy and strong woman, using a computer cable in the form of a whip – because what they wanted to achieve needed some fight.
Different country campaigns made some adjustments to the logo: a different hat, or a veil in Arab countries, or a different dress in
Pakistan.
Also the Cambodian campaign had, of course, some adaptions: to explain what the goal of the campaign is – still with the same logo, the happy and strong woman prepared to fight.
But but but – this women does not seem to know how a Khmer woman has to behave? Did she forget the Chbab Srey? So a Cambodian acculturation was used.
So the image was changed – she is now properly dressed, her legs are together in a long skirt – no more problems with the Chbab Srey – but will she now be fighting better to take back the tech – and to participate in building peace by working to End Violence Against Women?
Most of the employees of NagaWorld are female, and this is true also for the majority of the strikers. Maybe the combination of political and labor union struggles for justice, and the struggle for womens’ rights, will also in Cambodia provide a glue between these two towards more success, as it has been in other parts of the world.
I had ended my previous blog by quoting a report about the struggle in Latin America to eliminate violence against women, which led to the establishment of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. From the beginning, it was an integrated struggle for political and for women’s rights.
At the time of my writing, employees of NagaWorld, the biggest casino company in Cambodia, have been engaged in strike and protest actions for several weeks.”Dozens of workers and union leaders have been arrested. The strikers demand better severance pay and the reinstatement of more than 300 employees who lost their jobs, including union leaders.” And though the strike was declared not legitimate, union representatives declared that the “strike will continue indefinitely until their demands are met” in spite of arrests.