Survivors of rape in Cambodia face limited access to justice, medical
services and counselling, Amnesty International said in a report issued on
Monday, as rapes of women and girls appear to be increasing,
Breaking the silence: Sexual violence in Cambodia,
issued to mark International Women's Day, exposes how corruption and
discrimination within the police and courts prevent survivors of rape from
receiving justice and required assistance, while most perpetrators go
unpunished.
"Dozens of survivors told us that they face extortion, ignorance and
disbelief from officials whose job it should be to assist them and protect
their rights," said Donna Guest, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific
Deputy Director. "For too many survivors of rape, the pursuit of justice
and medical support adds further distress to the initial abuse."
Amnesty International researchers found sex workers and women living in poverty
faced serious obstacles in seeking justice and medical services. They were
unable to pay bribes which were often required of them from the police and
others, and could not afford legal or medical services.
The report includes 30 interviews with women and girls aged between 10 and 40.
The family of a 19 year-old girl with a learning disability explained how
police officers ignored their complaint when Mony was raped in late 2009.
"The police only work if you have money, if you can pay. With around
100,000 riels [approx US$25] perhaps we could have secured an arrest, but we
don't have that," said her father.
He said that Mony lived in constant fear of the perpetrator, who remained at
large. The family also struggled to afford the medicine she needed, and
described transportation costs to court and police as very difficult.
Cambodian society, like many around the world, exhibits deeply engrained gender
discrimination that stigmatizes survivors of sexual assaults, while
perpetrators, who mostly remain at large, face limited, if any, sanction.
"With the lack of social support towards victims, it is crucial that the
government breaks the silence and publicly condemns sexual violence, to show
that it will not tolerate such serious crimes and to acknowledge the pain of
the survivors," said Donna Guest.
With a new Penal Code entering into force in late 2010, Amnesty International
has called on the Cambodian government to firmly address inadequate law
enforcement, extra-judicial settlements, weak prosecution and widespread
corruption in cases of suspected sexual violence.
Amnesty International has also urged the government to train and equip the
police, utilise female police officers, and allocate necessary budgets so that
they can investigate allegations of crimes promptly, professionally and
sensitively.
Data provided by police and NGOs indicates that incidents of rape are
increasing in Cambodia, but the extent of the increase is hidden by a lack of
monitoring and limited reporting and coordination of statistics.
Authorities should accurately obtain such information and use it to inform policy
and plans of action.
"Cambodia has made important inroads into tackling gender-discrimination,
with a focus on domestic violence and human trafficking," Donna Guest
said. "It is time the government incorporated sexual violence against
women into these categories to address its failure to meet the human rights
obligations under the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women."
The 60-page report presents extensive research and recommendations to reverse
increasing sexual violence against women. The analysis was released as part of
Amnesty International's global campaign to Stop Violence against Women.
Cambodian rape victims face police bribes and social
stigma when reporting assaults
The report by Amnesty International says the incidence of rape appears to be
growing in Cambodia, but corruption and discrimination within the police and
courts prevent rapists from being prosecuted.
The London-based group based its findings on research in 10 provinces last
year and dozens of interviews with rape victims between the ages of 10 and 40,
family members, government officials, rights groups, medical personnel, police
and lawyers.
One of those interviewed was the father of an 19-year-old woman with a
learning disability who was raped twice. The father said police asked him for
100,000 riel ($25) to arrest his daughter's attacker - an amount roughly
equivalent to the monthly salary of a civil servant.
"Police only work if you have money, if you can pay," the father
was quoted as saying in the report. "But we don't have that. And if you
don't, the police just ignore the case."
Donna Guest, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific deputy director, said some rape victims
were forced to marry their attackers as part of a deal between the families
involved, who see it as a way to marry off a woman stigmatized by rape while
dropping the complaint against her attacker.
"For too many survivors of rape, the pursuit of justice and medical
support adds further distress to the initial abuse," Guest said.
Amnesty urged the Cambodian government to "publicly condemn sexual
violence," saying much more needs to be done to dispel the stigma
associated with rape.
There are no comprehensive statistics on rape and sexual violence against
women and girls in the country, but officials at the National Police, the
Ministry of Women's Affairs and elsewhere "believe the incidence of rape
in Cambodia is increasing and that a growing number of victims are
children," the report said.
Police recorded 468 cases of rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment in
2009, a 24 per cent increase over the previous year, but those figures are
considered low and unreliable, the report said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak confirmed that rapes
cases in Cambodia appear to be increasing, but he criticized the Amnesty report
as overly negative.
"Even though there is an increase in rape cases, I can assure you that
all of the rapists we have arrested are in jail," he said.
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