Vignettes

Yesterday I was on my way to lunch when a policeman held up his arm in the universal stop sign. A woman with a child on her motorbike continued around the policeman. He hit her with his baton, catching the child at the same time. Luckily, although she wobbled, she did not crash or fall off. The policeman had us wait for a couple of minutes and then a very fancy car with a government reg pulled into a driveway. The road we were stopped on was the main boulevard in Phnom Penh

If a Cambodian is unlucky enough to get in an accident here they are taken to Calmette hospital, where they will wait, often covered in blood for someone to guarantee payment of their treatment. Indeed a friend just told me about a mother and daughter who had acid thrown on their faces during the night, were taken there and left in agony because they could not pay. Luckily an NGO found out about their situation and relocated them.

Finally, attitudes towards domestic violence are changing. According to the Phnom Penh Post:

Before, a daughter would complain to her family about spousal abuse and they'd do nothing. They'd say it's 'your problem'... but now we're seeing fathers and brothers accompany the victim.

And some statistics from Licadho - a Cambodian Human Rights NGO...

% increase	Domestic violence	Rape	Gang rape
2005	24	30	25
2000	193	207	no data

There is a decrease in the increase, which is encouraging if not out and out good news. Women are becoming more aware of their rights. It also helps that if they report violence or rape they are not automatically sent on to the streets or summarily divorced and left destitute. Progress is slow but it is a shuffle in the right direction.