PLATFORM FOR ACTIONTO SECURE WOMEN'S RIGHTS************ The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia guarantees the equal rights of women in all spheres of national life. In reality, however, women's rights to physical security, emotional well-being, economic livelihood, cultural development, and political participation are not equal to those of men. The status of Cambodian women remains low. Their rights to access and secure a safe and decent standard of living for themselves and for their children are regularly denied. The Second National Conference on Gender and Development calls on the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia, on local Cambodian associations and organizations and international agencies which have the means to help women help themselves to build a better and fairer society, to adopt the recommendations for change which follow: 1. The Economic Rights of Rural and Urban Women Women play a vital role in economic activities and make a significant contribution to the economies of their families, households and the nation as a whole. More than 70% of women over the age of 15 are economically active, but only 6% of the female workforce are paid. Almost one-third of women workers has never been to school. In 1999, micro-vendors accounted for 40% of the total number of economically active women in Phnom Penh. They earn for one day what their family needs to survive for just that day. In rural areas, approximately 20% of families are supported by women alone; eight out of ten of those households own less than one hectare of land. Landlessness is a growing problem and these families are the most vulnerable to abject rural poverty. Therefore, the conference proposes: · Any new policy or law relating to land, forests and fisheries must have prior consultation with the people, including indigenous peoples and those families that are supported by women alone; · Investigate the costs and benefits of Cambodian WTO membership, inform and consult Cambodian farmers about the agreement and closely monitor the consequences of membership most particularly on the most vulnerable groups, especially women; · Upgrade and increase social and credit services to rural communities, provide skills training and create job opportunities, in order to help stem rural to urban migration; · Relocation of urban squatters must be a policy of last resort and people must not be resettled in areas where it is too difficult to earn an income. 2. Women's Rights and Access to Health and Education The constitution promises to provide public services to all the people and to protect and uphold the rights of the people to quality education. In reality, government expenditure on health is just one dollar per person per year and health services, especially for the poor and for rural women, are minimal. About 90% of women give birth at home, 45% of children under 5 years are stunted due to malnutrition, and women's emotional well-being is rarely considered as a statistic. Those currently most at risk of HIV infection are Cambodian wives who have just one sex partner, their husband. The literacy rate of Cambodian women remains the lowest in the Mekong sub-region. Only 42% of women have some level of literacy. While the net enrolment ratio for girls in primary school is almost on par with boys, by the upper secondary level, girls have almost disappeared. They barely register in enrolment for technical and vocational education and training in those skills areas which will make sound economic returns for investment. The conference proposes: · Schools with dormitories should be accessible for girls and the disableds in all rural districts and in the regions where indigenous peoples live and tertiary education services should be available in every province; · Support girl students who choose to study non-traditional technical skills with scholarships and safe dormitories for those from rural areas; · Give opportunities to young women who dropped out of school to complete their education through non-formal and complementary schooling which is free of charge; Provide training to the kindergarten teachers; · Provide accessible, available and affordable primary health care services of high quality, including sexual and reproductive health, family planning information, and ante- and post-natal services, especially the disabled women; · Ensure that girl adolescents and all women can have easy access to appropriate health care services concerning HIV/AIDS prevention; · Provide training skills to TBA; · Strengthen teachers' ability and improve ethic code for teachers. 3. Women's Rights and Access to Legal Protection The constitution states that men and women are equal before the law. In practice, women rarely find justice in law. Cambodian law provides free legal defence in criminal cases only but most women are involved in civil cases only. In any case, most women still do not know that they have the right to divorce their husband and neither they nor their husbands know that domestic violence is a crime. Too commonly, rape victims are forced to marry their rapists to uphold the "honour" of her family and the reputation of the rapist. The trafficking of young women and children into forced prostitution is a gross violation of girl children's human rights but it is a common practice, which goes unpunished. Commercial sex workers are constantly harassed by clients, by officials and police and scorned by the general public for the work they have to do to support themselves and their families. Garment factory workers struggle to gain their rights under the Labour Law. Micro-vendors have no legal protection at all. The conference proposes: · Widely disseminate information about and strengthen the implementation of existing laws and international covenants concerning the protection of women's and children's legal rights; · Female prisoners should be held a secure place, separate from any possibilities of second rape and special facilities should be provided for their children in the prison; Minor prisoners should be held separately from adult; · Supreme Council of Magistracy should be strengthened for the sake of women's legal protection; · Strengthen local authorities and urge them to cooperate with civil society to implement laws relating to violence against women and punish perpetrators according to the law. 4. The Rights of Vulnerable Groups in Law The people at the very margins of Cambodian society include members of ethnic minority groups, the physically and mentally disabled, the street children, the abandoned babies, and the thousands of child labourers. At this level, it is almost irrelevant to make a gender distinction on suffering and yet it is often the case that women and girls are the most vulnerable of all. Of course they have rights, including rights before the law, but the obstacles to accessing those rights are virtually insurmountable: little or no education or literacy in the majority group language, little or no access to health services because they are too poor, little or no recognition that children have the same rights to freedom, happiness, respect, and human dignity as adults, as the rich, as the powerful. The conference proposes: · Support public education to urge the people not to discriminate against victims of rape, trafficking and forced prostitution and help them reintegrate into society; · Clarify the status in law of traditional adoption within Cambodia and international adoption in order to protect children from the threat of exploitation; · Have clear policy for local authorities and community leaders to provide support for child victims of violence, poverty and exploitation; · Stop the practice of family's accepting only compensation for the rape of their children and ensure that the perpetrators are punished according to the law; · Draft an Anti-discrimination Law to implement the CEDAW, to protect the economic, social and cultural rights of the disabled, ethnic minorities and all women. 5. Women's Empowerment at all National Levels Cambodian women are gradually securing a place in the decision-making process at all levels. Nevertheless, progress is inordinately slow. Only 14 out of the 122 deputies of the National Assembly are women. There are two women ministers but only five secretaries of state among the 132 who serve. There are no women provincial governors and just one at the district level. There are no Cambodian women ambassadors. As a result of the local elections in 1,621 communes/sangkat in February 2002, 34 women were elected to the position of council chief. Unless women can and do actively participate in the legislative and executive processes of the nation, from local level to the supreme national bodies, they cannot expect to achieve those changes which are essential to securing their rights. The conference proposes: · Civil society groups working for women's issues should be united in order to coordinate with the political parties to strengthen their attention to women's opportunities by putting women candidates higher on the candidacy list according to an appropriate quota for the general election in 2003; · Women's networks must be united and linked closely at central and local levels and in alliance with regional and international networks to ensure the easy sharing of information for the advantage of women and Cambodian people; · Advocacy networks of both women and men must have clear goals and objectives with strong commitment and not only talk to the local people or even talk on behalf of them but encourage the people to talk directly to their top leaders and legislators; · Men through their own networks must educate young men to respect women as equal partners in social relationships and marriage, as work colleagues and citizens with the same rights as human beings, and to stop all forms of violence against women.
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