Two girls, aged 2 and 8, were recently raped in Cambodia, but these crimes against children are unlikely to stir mass protests like those in India, says rights activist
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The number of cases of child rape in Cambodia has risen over the past few years, but the crime is not taken seriously, said a report by the Cambodia Daily newspaper.
Antiquated gender norms, a lack of education, poverty and alcohol abuse contribute to the Cambodian public’s “implicit acceptance” of child rape, the newspaper said, although it added that it is unclear whether the rise reflects more victims making reports or an increase in the crime.
Local rights group Adhoc, which tallied 140 cases of child rape and 14 rape-murders from January to September this year, told the newspaper that rapes against children accounted for more than two-thirds of all rape cases recorded by the organisation.
Licadho, another group working on human rights issues, recorded 170 cases over the same period, the newspaper said.
“Gender issues have not become a priority” despite the figures, Chuon Chamrong, head of the women’s programme at Adhoc, told the Daily.
She said that mass protests after rape cases – like those that erupted in India and South Africa – were unlikely to occur in Cambodia any time soon.
On Tuesday, the Daily reported the rapes of two girls - a 2-year-old in Kratie province and an 8-year-old in the capital Phnom Penh.
Rights activists have long said that sexual violence is not considered an important issue in Cambodia and that perpetrators violate with impunity.
Almost one in three Cambodian men interviewed in a recent United Nations study said they had used physical and sexual violence against a partner, and 5 percent admitted to taking part in a gang rape. Nearly 45 percent of men who admitted rape said they faced no legal consequences.
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