Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces, – On December 1, 5, and 7, 2023, ADRA Cambodia’s TOGETHER project team, along with the Provincial Women’s Affairs Departments, the District Women’s Affairs Committee, and the local authority leaders in Thalaborivat district, Stung Treng Province and Choam Ksant, Rovieng districts, Preah Vihear conducted a Global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaigns on the theme “UNITE! Invest to Prevent Violence against Women & Girls .”
The campaigns aimed to engage the whole world in the conversation by generating awareness and sharing important information. The campaigns also recommended actions to help tackle the global epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence and promote well-being. It would do this by highlighting key issues and findings from the TOGETHER Annual Survey and advocacy research on underage girls working at KTV/Restaurants and the relation to early marriage, early pregnancy, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), which are critical areas of focus for TOGETHER. The campaigns were in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal #5 – Gender Equality.
The events were conducted in three locations in Thalaborivat, Choam Ksant and Rovieng districts on December 1, 5, and 7 2023. A total of 633 (422 females) adolescent boys & and girls and parents/caregivers participated in the “GBV Activism Campaign” events including 15 villages in six communes of Choam Ksant, Rovieng and Thalaborivat districts. Table below detailed attendance list of the participants in three locations.
Dates | Locations of events | Age 10-15 | Age 16-19 | Age 20-24 | Age 25-49 | Age 50 | Total | F | M | |||||
F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | |||||
01-Dec-23 | Outhtnoat Thmey Middle School, Thalaborivat distirct, Stung Treng Province | 60 | 55 | 26 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 28 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 239 | 136 | 103 |
05-Dec-23 | Chanksant HigthSchool, Choam Ksant district, Preah Vihear Province | 4 | 3 | 93 | 40 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 126 | 58 |
07-Dec-23 | Rovieng HigthSchool, Roving District, Preah Vihear Province | 3 | 2 | 147 | 33 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 210 | 160 | 50 |
| Total 3 locations | 67 | 60 | 266 | 88 | 18 | 12 | 59 | 37 | 12 | 14 | 633 | 422 | 211 |
The key objectives of the events are:
1. To involve participants in the GBV activism conversation, generating awareness, and sharing important information:
a. Mrs. Son Sokha, Provincial Women’s Affairs director in Stung Treng Province and Mrs. Phorn Keo Phon, deputy director of Provincial Women’s Affairs in Preah Vihear read theme of the events and topics of GBV activitism against women and girls, the 16 days of GBV against women and girls campaigns that start from Novemebr 25 to December 10
b. Provincial Women’s Affairs director shared the background of GBV activism against women and girls start from December 17, 1999
c. Deputy director of Provincial Women’s Affairs shared Cambodian policy of GBV against women and girls and the prevention of the victims.
d. Questions and Answers to the parents/caregivers:
- What are the root causes of GBV?
- How the GBV affected to women and girls?
- When you see the GBV happen, who will you report to?;
- How to prevent GBV from happening in your community?
e. Questions and Answers to the adolescents boys &girls from middle/high school
- What time of GBV campaigns in 16 days?
- What purposes o f GBV campaigns in 16 days?
- What reasons that cause GBV on women and girls?
- If your family has GBV, who will you inform first?
2. To highlight ways we can all help tackle the global epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence.
- Keo Savoeu, deputy provincial governor, from Stung Treng shared:
- Read the History of GBV campaigns in 16 days
- The Issues of GBV that happened in Stung Treng Province and impacts to the women and girls
- The GBV often affected to the girls and cause migration far from home
- Khoy Bunthan, the Provincial Council member, shared that:
- We together have to invest on GBV prevention to women and girls.
- Welcome to ADRA and UNFPA that always support fund the GBV campaigns in the community.
- Advised to parents/caregivers and adolescent boys &girls to prevent GBV in the community
3. To share key issues and findings from the Annual Survey and advocacy research on underage girls working at KTV/Restaurants.
TOGETHER Management team including You Heng Heng, Learning Specialist, Sem Rithy, Assistant project manager, and Roth Rumnea, project manager shared the key findings from year two survey and advocacy research results on drop out of school, early marridge, unintended pregnancy, GBV at KTV/Reasaturants, underage girls working at KTV.
The events were broadcasted on local television shows through provincial information departments of Preah Vihear and Stung Treng below:
ADRA Cambodia is implementing the “uniting TOwards Gender Equality for enjoyment of women’s and girls’ Total HEalth and Rights” (TOGETHER) project thanks to generous funding from Global Affairs Canada. Supported by ADRA Canada, SickKids, and Salanga, this gender-transformative 6-year project will ensure that nearly 200,000 girls, women, boys, and men in Cambodia, Kenya, the Philippines, and Uganda are enabled to exercise their health-related human rights.
