Domestic violence in Cambodia down sharply, researchers say

Monsters and critics
Sep 14, 2011,

Phnom Penh - The number of Cambodian families reporting cases of domestic violence has dropped 24 per cent in recent years, researchers said Wednesday, an improvement they ascribed to moves to raise awareness of the issue.

The news was welcomed by Dr Ing Kantha Phavi (pictured), the minister of women's affairs, who told a press conference the findings showed people's attitudes towards domestic violence were changing.

'They do not accept domestic violence any more. Before when we talked to them they said it was a family issue and neighbours closed their eyes to it,' she said. 'Now we have the law and education and they are aware that domestic violence is not a family issue - it impacts on society and national development.'

The research, which was supported by the German government's aid arm GIZ and Spain's AECID, collated information from across government, civil society and media.

The number of families nationwide reporting a case of domestic violence dropped from 42,436 to 35,408 from 2006 to 09. Comparing that against population growth translated into a 24 per cent decline.

The report's author, Marion Bihler, described the decline in the prevalence of domestic violence as 'quite astounding on the global scale' where reductions of 5-10 per cent are considered a success.

Bihler said the statistics underpinning the findings were 'very rigorous.' However she noted that a lack of reliable data on rape and trafficking meant researchers could not determine trends associated with those forms of violence.

'Violence against women remains widely prevalent, with indications that some forms - particularly rape - continue to exhibit high degrees of incidence,' Bihler said.

The 'Report on Data Collection and Monitoring of Violence Against Women in Cambodia, 2010' was released in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

It noted significant declines in the number of women reporting various types of abuse at the hands of their husbands. In 2005, for example, 5 per cent of women said they had been threatened with a knife. That had declined to 1 per cent by 2009.

The report called for a national system to monitor the number of cases of violence against women, saying it was 'urgently needed.'

Under its Millennium Development Goals, Cambodia committed itself to reducing violence against women and children 'significantly' by 2015. GIZ and AECID are working with the government to establish a national monitoring system to track violence against women.