Assault is not a compliment

After reading all the horrific stories of violence against women in Cambodia and the lack of action on the part of the police, it is nice to read about a judge who takes assault seriously

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian man convicted of smacking a female motorist's bottom was handed a one-year suspended jail sentence and his friend was sentenced to the same term in absentia, a court official said on Wednesday.

Phnom Penh municipal court prosecutor Kry Soky said Van Theara, 22, remained on the lam after being found complicit in delivering a playful slap on the bottom to a female motorbike rider which his friend had claimed was meant as a joking compliment.

Assault is not a compliment.

He said Theara's friend, Khun Pheakdey, 18, had been ordered to pay compensation of $350 and released after already serving five months in jail for his moment of indiscretion.

Violence and assault are not moments of indiscretion, they are criminal acts and perpetrators deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law.

"This is not a funny story because funny stories do not end up in court. This is sexual harassment. A polite man takes a strange girl he likes by the hand, not by the bottom," Soky said by telephone.

The case was prosecuted after the victim's parents heard about the incident and filed a complaint to the court, he said.

It should be amazing that the judge has to publicly state that sexual harassment is not a joke, but it isn't. With the sheer number of rape jokes and the status of women in Cambodia, it is necessary to tell these truths in a public arena. It is not funny.

Once more with feeling: assault is not a compliment. Rape is not a compliment. Violence is not a compliment.