Karaoke, beer and sexual violence: how gender inequality is hindering efforts to achieve the MDGs

Below is an interesting article from KHANA (Khmer HIV/AIDS Alliance) highlighting the serious sexual gender inequalities present in Cambodia.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) consist of eight aspirations for a future free form extreme poverty. The goals tackle serious global issues such as hunger, education, child mortality, maternal health, HIV and gender equality.

Research shows that internationally women are subjected to bear a disproportionate burden of poverty due to the systematic discrimination they face in terms of education, health care, employment and control of assets. If inequality between men and women is hindering Cambodia’s efforts to achieve the MDGS, should we increase our focus on women to achieve the MDGs?

An ancient Khmer proverb says, “A man is gold, a woman is a white piece of cloth.” Gold can get dirty or be dropped in the mud, but it can be polished and become as shiny as new, if white cloth is dropped in the mud, it will be forever stained and soiled. This is a sad reflection of how Cambodian society traditionally views women’s sexuality. The massive double standards mean that women often lack their sexual rights and autonomy.

Extreme poverty is the main force driving women into commercial and transactional sex work in Cambodia. This takes place in a variety of settings from brothels and streets to karaoke bars and beer gardens. Entertainment workers (EW) report often report pressure from clients to have sex without condoms and in some cases, clients will offer to pay more for unprotected sex. To women living in poverty this can be hard to refuse. A report for Pharmaciens Sans Frontiers in 2007 showed that 20 % of EW were infected with STIs every month, indicating low condom use.

The majority of married women in Cambodia have to accept that their husbands will have extramarital sexual relationships with paid and unpaid partners. Men are more likely to use condoms with paid partners but many do not use condoms consistently with unpaid partners. The result is that married women account for 43% of new HIV infections (NCHADS 2008).

In a culture that promotes men’s rights to sexual pleasure and silences female sexuality, sexual violence is endemic. EWs are often viewed as ‘spoiled women’ and as such they frequently endure harassment, rape and violence from a variety of perpetrators.

Rape at the hands of clients is a common experience for most EW and according to USAID (2006), a shocking 54.8% of freelance female sex workers were gang-raped in the past year. Furthermore, a recent Human Rights Watch (2010) report highlighted the horrifying experiences that EW suffer, committed by authorities including police who are meant to protect all Cambodian citizens. The report documented widespread cases of rape, torture, violence and arbitrary detention.

Sexual violence is not limited to entertainment workers. There is a lack of reliable data on rape statistics, including rape of children but NGO and government sources say that it is on the increase. Domestic rape is against the law in Cambodia but it is common and is rarely reported to authorities.

According to Amnesty International (2010), rape in Cambodia goes largely unreported due to a number of reasons, EW who are raped do not trust the police, there is a general lack of confidence that the perpetrator will be convicted and furthermore there is often stigma around rape victims and a shame that cannot be shaken. Apart from the massive rights violations that are inflicted on all women during rape, there is also a risk of HIV transmission and unwanted pregnancies.

The Demographic and Health Survey (2005) asserts that 19% of births between 2000 and 2005 were unwanted. This indicates that women lack control over decisions over family planning. It also indicates that Cambodian women have a lack of access to contraception and safe abortion services. This is a serious problem as unsafe abortions account for 14% of maternal deaths in South East Asia.

The third MDG specifically calls on countries to “promote gender equality and empower women,” but as discussed above, gender inequality is hindering the progress of several goals including those on HIV, maternal health and child mortality amongst others.

Although gender inequality has a disproportionate effect on women, it is by no means a women’s problem. Gender includes men and women and as such, men need to take greater responsibility for their roles in gender inequality, maternal health and HIV prevention. They need to identify what actions they must take to redress the issues involved, both to re-instate human rights for women and for the future of the whole country.