Sexism in the Phnom Penh Post

Nice to see that the Phnom Penh Post is jumping on the "domestic violence is funny" bandwagon.

2 October 2008 page 20

The cartoon incorporates sexist language "Don't know why they're always drawn to the one's that beat them". It's supposed to be funny because the character is an anthropomorphous egg but really it's a judgement about women who stay in violent relationships. Ha ha ha eggs get beaten - hilarious. Domestic abuse is not funny. Gender based violence is not funny. How is it that this even needs repeating?

I find it disgusting that the PP Post would publish this cartoon at all but especially in a country with huge amounts of gender based violence and domestic abuse. Hardly a day goes by that I don't read in the paper about the rape, abuse and murder of women. I don't have enough sanity points to do research on that at the moment. If in doubt see posts under sexism, sexual exploitation, violence etc. Not funny PP Post.

And for those of you who think that it's much ado about nothing, I suggest you take the red pill from Liss at Shakesville.

Women's choices shamed

Women are berated for their clothing choices in today's Phnom Penh Post.

But now, many young women are causing cultural controversy by abandoning traditional attire in favour of skimpy ensembles.
Sok Sothun, chief of culture development at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Art, said that the sartorial choices of Cambodia's young women are undermining the Kingdom's traditional culture and morality.

Amazing the controversy caused by women wearing short shorts but the is no outcry when men wear nothing but a krama around their waists. Double standards indeed

"Our Khmer culture never had this before. People wore sexy or short clothes at home or to sleep but never in public places," he said. "Some girls go to the pagoda wearing short clothes. So what will happen when they kneel down to pray to the monk? It will not be suitable."

By extension, these women "deserve" to get raped because they are wearing skimpy clothes and men, monks or not cannot be expected to take responsibility for their own actions.

Also why are men not rebuked for the same action? Why refer to grown up human females are girls? Women is the correct term.

"We like wearing sexy clothes but we don't want to destroy Cambodian culture," said Srey Mon, a beautician at a Phnom Penh salon.

Women wearing what they choice to wear does not corrupt culture. I'm sure the Minister does not mean to imply that Cambodian culture is so fragile. As for morality, it is not for governments to legislate in a democracy. Admittedly the Minister says as much

"While we can't ban people from wearing modern clothes because our country is developing, we should do a spot on TV where young people will be able to see people wearing traditional clothes," admitted Sok Sothun.

The government needs to find ways of actively addressing the problem - but not through restrictive legislation, he said.

while implying that he wishes he could ban people for wearing modern clothes and he would do so if not for the pesky development issue.

Kim Vannara 17, student at Baktouk High School, said that she didn't believe wearing sexy clothes would impact on Cambodian tradition.

"We are only wearing modern clothes to fit in with the society around us, and Cambodia needs to go forward as a country instead of looking back to the past," she said.

Yes. A modern society is a gender equal society. Of course, no such animal exists but it is a goal to work towards.

There's nothing like making young women feel ashamed to brighten up the day, eh /sarcasm

A little late but "Peace day"

"Simply the absence of war is not peace" - Anam Prem.

The UN Secretary General made a statement.

Peace is the United Nations’ highest calling. It defines our mission. It drives our discourse. And it draws together all of our world wide work, from peacekeeping and preventive diplomacy to promoting human rights and development.

UN peace day photos . Here are messages from all over the world. You can still be heard. Send a text, write a postcard to tell world leaders how you feel.



Make our peace

UN day

Most people choose complain about what the UN does: the salaries, the bureaucracy, the lack of intervention. Few celebrate its achievements: humanitarian assistance, defence of human rights, peace-keeping. The world is better with the UN in it. It is our world and the UN is everybody's organisation and I, for one, am celebrating.

Happy UN Day

Cosmo just doesn't get it - STILL

Despite the huge backlash against hack writer Laura Sessions Stepp, Cosmo still grants her the opportunity to bore us with her woman-shaming attitudes and judgemental condescension.

From Jezebel:

Laura Sessions Stepp was the first to speak at any length, and she basically rehashed the article she had written in Cosmo peppered with some of her usual anti-hook-up propaganda. Blah, blah, women should be dating and not just having casual sex, blah, blah, there wouldn't be so much assault if they had real relationships.

It's your own fault sluts because everybody knows that there is never any rape of and by people in relationships. Forget about what every survey says, that 90% of rape is committed by a friend, family member or intimate partner of the victim, if it doesn't fit with your little theory. Being in a relationship doesn't save you but makes your more vulnerable. It would be a fine thing, Sessions Stepp, if you did a little fact checking.

Two of the three men on the panel, Neal Irvin, the National Director of Men Can Stop Rape and anti-violence activist Joe Samalin, focused their commentary on the need to educate men. "The way we socialize men to think about sexuality is the reason they're confused about gray rape," said Irwin. "We're taught that men are the seekers, women are the gatekeepers." An interesting point, but neither Irvin nor Samalin gave concrete examples on how to help educate or socialize the men in question.

Some blah blah about socialisation but no attempt for men to take responsibility. Blatant acceptance of the words grey rape as if it were valid. No questioning of the term. Women are blamed for not protecting their virtue. Nothing new there.

Linda Fairstein, the former chief prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.'s Sex Crimes Unit, was the only commentator who said anything remotely useful in terms of defining gray rape. "There is no such thing as gray rape in the criminal justice system," Fairstein explained.

"Men are responsible," Fairstein continued. "They shouldn't be having sex with wasted women. Vomit should probably be a red flag... But teaching responsibility to young women is just as important. You don't have to drink eight drinks. You don't have to get blotto."

And some facts - grey rape does not exist. Finally. But... it's still your fault. You were drunk. What did you expect? Be a good girl. Don't drink. If you drink and are raped, it's your fault. Don't take drugs. If you take drugs and are raped, it's your fault. Always be on the alert. Live your life in fear. It's never the man's fault, you must have done something to deserve it.

The pervasive notion of grey rape, that Cosmo seems to be promoting is a dangerous one. It is basically letting rapists off the hook because yeah she might have said no be she meant yes. It's perverted. I've said it before: no consent is rape. I don't take if the people in question have slept together before, or have been fooling around or if one or the other is intoxicated. No consent = rape.

Why are women forced into the role of a child. Children must be protected because they are unable to protect themselves. Women are adults and do not need to be preached to and shamed by magazine's hacks, governments, church leaders, and big brothers. Just do your damn jobs. Enforce the law and prosecute rapists. Stop blaming the victims. Would you blame a stab victim for getting stabbed? Would you blame a murder victim for being killed. So why do you blame a rape victim for getting raped?

I suggest a boycott of this piece of shit magazine, not only because of the serious grey rape issue but also because of the content.

Cosmo was started to discuss sexuality in the swinging sixties but these days it is a parody of the Stepford Wives: "Be a good girlfriend"; "How to please your man"; "How to give the perfect blowjob". It might as well be, "how to keep the house tidy", which would fit in nicely with the spate of recent articles on how housework is feminist, and "I'm nothing without a man by my side", which is cropping up all over the place.

NO MORE, Cosmo, NO MORE

The media can become "a knife that cuts both ways"

Just in case there was any doubt about freedom of the press in Cambodia, the DPM has answered that question.

Deputy Prime Mr. Sok An emphasized that media are an active agent to provide information, with the goal of providing facts and to mirror the society, in order to help correct extreme activities in society which are influenced from outside, so that they return to more appropriate ones, not to affect the value of our cultures, traditions, or the high moral of society, and to maintain national identity, so that it can survive under the influence of the currents of globalization. Due to this role, the media have to be at the same time conservers and developers of society with specific and appropriate goals.

“Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An continued to point out that the media can also be a ‘knife that cuts both ways,’ because they can be an enemy of social development, and they can lead the nation into trouble, if they are not used appropriately in their role, by neglecting the aspect of the possibility of having a bad influence. Considering this, how should we arrange the media in order to maintain their role and high effectiveness in social development?

“However, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An expects that after this seminar, the media, especially radio and television, will move further to new successes in the development of the national society, the maintenance of stability and peace, and of the values of the national cultures and traditions.”(Source)

Yes indeed, how can we best control the media to reflect the opinion of the government? How can we get all these pesky reporters to go after the opposition and sing our praises? How do maintain the traditions of asking no questions, obeying orders and never questioning authority? Well how about intimidation and corruption! Or warnings from the second most powerful man in the land!

To control the media, is to control the voice of the people. Without a voice, democracy does not function. The Cambodian people want a democracy so why is the rich elite aiming for a plutocracy? Because they can, I suppose. It's really quite disheartening to see the slow careful demolition of democracy.

Got him!

Nuon Chea has been arrested!

Nuon Chea was put on a helicopter at his jungle home to fly to the capital, Phnom Penh, to appear before a panel of judges, witnesses said.

The 82-year-old was second-in-command to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

More than a million people are thought to have died during the four years of Khmer Rouge rule between 1975-79.

Nuon Chea, who was also known as "brother number two", has been living alongside Khieu Samphan, once the Khmer Rouge's head of state, in Pailin, the movement's former jungle headquarters.

Police and court officials went to his home near the Thai border early on Wednesday to question him, witnesses said.

He was then taken under police escort to a helicopter for the flight to Phnom Penh. (Source)

Not a good guy and looks ancient. Hope he survives long enough to give evidence and get convicted.

You drive in PP? Read this

From KI Media:

Kep Chuktema, the governor of Phnom Penh... ordered the posting of police and military police officers at all 38 light stops in the city of Phnom Penh, in order to efficiently put into application this new traffic law, starting 03 September.

He said that there should not be any wait for a meeting to inform about this law. Kep Chuktema ordered the posting of 5 civilian police officers and 5 military police officers at each stop light to put into application the new law. Kep Chuktema said that the application of the law does not mean that the 10 police officers stationed at each stop light should stop vehicles to demand bribes, but only for them to stop these vehicles to explain to their owners about the new traffic law.

He said that he ordered the cops not to fine the motorists, however, should fine be issued, receipts must be provided by the Ministry of Interior or by the Ministry of Finance. If no receipts are provided for the fines, the cops involved can be sentenced to jail between 6 months to 3 years. Kep Chuktema said that the cops at the stop lights must call in motorists to explain about the traffic law after 9:00 AM only, in order to avoid creating traffic jams.

So avoid the traffic lights until you've got your licence, unless you want to pay bribes!

Open letter to Cosmo

Dear Ms White,

I stopped reading your magazine a few years ago because I was tired of reading the same article every couple of months about how to please your man. As a feminist, I found it boring and relatively insipid. I would search long and hard for any article that empowered young women to advance their career or that advocated equality in the workplace. Instead I was subjected to "how to have an affair with your boss" and "how to keep the perfect man". I think you do women a grave disservice by pandering to tired stereotypes.

Oh well I would have gladly kept my opinions out of your letter pages if I had not opened up by computer today and seen this vile nasty piece of trash on "grey rape". There is nothing grey about

This one time about nine years ago I got locked out of my house and went home with some vaguely smarmy hair-product using type from my ex-boyfriend's frat... when he, after about a half hour of fooling around, put on a condom I was like, "Whooooah, what are you doing?" But I'd had two forties and I kept drifting in and out of consciousness -- my tolerance, obviously, wasn't what it is today -- and I woke up to find him sticking it in. I'd said 'no' a bunch of times and when I came to I just froze, stopped, turned over and slept. (Cosmo US edition)

This writer claims that this is grey rape; the writer is in denial. She may feel she needs to deny it because she doesn't feel traumatised. Whether or not she is traumatised has no bearing on the fact that it was rape. It's a simple equation, regardless of the force or lack thereof used, no consent = rape.

You are the editor of a global magazine. How responsible do you honestly think this is? You are propagating the idea that, is a women is drunk then it's not really rape; when she says "no", it's not really rape; when she is sleeping it's not really rape. Do you believe that? Don't you think that this is rape is completely unacceptable in every situation? If there is no consent the man is a rapist. It is that simple.

There is no grey rape. Date rape is rape. Marital rape is rape. Why are you seeking to diminish the seriousness of a crime? Your publication would do well to retract that article and print an apology because otherwise you may be responsible for people believing your misinformation. What happens when a man uses the made up term "grey rape" to defend his actions? What happens when some idiot, who actually believed your article, is passing judgement or is on a jury? What happens to women who go to the police and get mocked by the term "grey rape" when they are trying to report a crime?

This article, from what I can read, has just made the world more unsafe for women.

Sincerely

MR

Others have addressed this issue too:
Jezebel
Shakespeare's Sister
Feministing

Out of 132, Phnom Penh is 125th

Of the 132 cities surveyed, only nine cities present the worst-case scenario in which most aspects of living quality are severely restricted, reflecting general improvements on a global scale in areas such as education, health care and infrastructure. Four of these are in Asia, mainly South Asia. The other five are in Africa (accounting for three) and the Middle East (accounting for two).

The threat of terrorism and civil unrest is a major contributing factor to the cities that suffer from the worst liveability scores, as are poor development indicators. (Source)

Well I wouldn't be quite that harsh, but Phnom Penh does have elements that are very frustrating: noise, pollution, motos and the hot weather in April that just saps your will to live. If you ignore the racism, sexism and political corruption though, the Penh does have its charms for those who can afford them.

The thing about surveys like this is that they are generally written by people staying at four star hotels and who are being chauffeured everywhere in air conditioned land rovers. Do they eat the 2000 riel noodles or take a moto from one end of the city to another? How can they possibly evaluate a city under such conditions?

Same old show

Because when in doubt its always good to try and get your accusers fired.

Subsequently, the Royal Embassy of Cambodia today once again, urged Global Witness funders...review the credibility and ill-intention of Global Witness Director and discriminatory nature may be ill suited to lead Global Witness in the current situation and the future. It would be disastrous for the credibility and the image of Global Witness Funders: Trusts and foundations-Development organizations- Governments, if no concrete actions and measures would not seriously considered to provide a new guidance and leadership to Global Witness. (Source)

So exposing crimes is now discriminatory? Revealing corruption comes from ill intentions? It's funny how some accuse others of faults they themselves possess. Is the government so angry with Global Witness for revealing the scam that they must retaliate?

Calling the credible of Global Witness into account does nothing to help the governments cause. Does anyone believe that the GW report was fabricated? No. Everybody knows where the truth lies. We've heard the chain saws and we have seen how the gov responds to this type of report many many times and it is always the same - attack the source. A new tack, please. Why not try and work with NGOs to improve?

Carnival

Check out Carnival of the feminists #42.

One my my pieces was selected - YAY!

How do you spend your money?

I am absolutely disgusted with this article from the Economist

If women decide to spend their 20s clubbing rather than child-rearing, and their cash on handbags rather than nappies, that's up to them.

The author's attitude is appalling. Not only does he (assuming gender) demonstrate a profound disrespect for women through his clubbing and handbag remark, but he also reduces women to baby making machines.

There are a number of issues to be tackled here. Firstly women have the right to spend their money on whatever the hell they want and should not be reprimanded by some patriarchal notion or by paternalistic second rate hacks. How magnanimous the author is with "that's up to them". Yes how we spend our money is up to us and no permission is required. Who the hell do you think you are to label women as either "baby maker" or "superficial and selfish" and then presume to permit us to choose how we spend it?

Secondly how dare he assume that women have the sole responsibility for spending their money on childrearing. Is childrearing not supposed to be a partnership? It seems to me that this is the kind of attitude that wants the little women barefoot and uneducated in the kitchen. I am not amused.

As a women in her twenties, I reject utterly his puerile statements. I, like the majority of women I know, spend my hard earned cash on further education and my career. I live in developing countries from from my family to do so. I do not intend to make babies just because I can. Apart from the other issues, it is irresponsible to bring a child into the world without proper consideration. Just because something is possible, it does not mean that one should engage in it - armour-piercing bullets for instance.

Let's all write letters to the editor and express outrage at the attitudes towards women. I've already composed mine.

Staff of the Cambodge Soir fight back

The editorial staff of the Cambodge Soir is fighting back. If you don't know the backstory, click here. They have launched a new blog to keep readers informed and to get their side of the story out to the general public.

Le quotidien cambodgien francophone et khmérophone Cambodge Soir est encore absent des kiosques ce lundi, et le sera encore mardi... Le site www.cambodgesoir.info est toujours bloqué par la direction. La rédaction continue de se rendre sur son lieu de travail, chaque jour, seule, sans directrice adjointe ni directeur, ni personnel administratif.

Nous avons besoin encore et encore de votre soutien : messages envoyés à notre collectif (collectifcs@gmail.com), pétitions, courriers adressés aux administrateurs de Cambodge Soir, aux associations de journalistes, à la Francophonie... Toutes les aides sont les bienvenues !
Merci encore !
La rédaction (Source)

The francophone newspaper Cambodge Soir is absent once more from newsagents today and will be again tomorrow. The website www.cambodgesoir.info has been blocked by management. The editorial staff are present work each day, whereas the manager, deputy manager and administration staff are not.

We need your support more and more - send emails to us (collectifcs@gmail.com), sign petitions, send letters to the management of the Cambodge Soir, journalists' organisations, French speaking organisations and businesses... All help is welcome.
Thank you again
The editorial staff (My translation)

The story needs to get out so feel free to email your support in English, French or Khmer. The editorial staff have been treated very badly by management and the newspaper has been in circulation for the past twelve years. It is of good journalistic standard. Personally I miss reading it in the morning.

Press not so free

Well the notion of freedom of the press in Cambodia is being stripped away threat by threat. Yet another reporter has gone into hiding following a death threat. According to Reporters without borders, Cambodia ranks 108 out of 168 for press freedom.

The second Radio Free Asia reporter in as many months has gone into hiding, this time following a death threat by telephone for reporting on illegal logging.

Lim Viseth, who was investigating reports of illegal logging outlined in a Global Witness report earlier this month, was hiding along the Thai border, where he spoke to VOA Khmer Monday.

"I'm concerned about my safety," Lim Viseth said.

He criticized Prime Minister Hun Sen for remarks in May aimed at another RFA reporter, Keo Nimuol, who also went into hiding.

Lim Viseth said he received a phone call Saturday, in which an unnamed caller told him, "Don't be nasty about the illegal forest report."

"Be careful," the caller said. (Source)

Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Cambodia is a party, states that everyone has "the right to freedom of opinion and expression" and also the right to "seek, receive and impart" information and ideas "regardless of frontiers." It does not appear that the government is fulfilling its duties with regard to this issue

What is interesting is that there are three indices for measuring how free the press is in a certain country. For example, Cambodia is classified as "not free" by Freedom in the World, "mostly free" by Index of Economic Freedom, and "difficult situation" by Worldwide Press Freedom Index. There is no consensus on the freedom of the press in this country, but when reporters receive death threats then I think it is safe to say that the press is not free.

The seven wonders of the modern world

Has everyone cast their vote for the new seven wonders of the world? There are only 17 days left to do so. From the Acropolis of Athens to Timbuktu, and Angkor Wat to Neuschwanstein Castle many cultures are represented. So will you pick Machu Picchu, the Statue of Liberty or the Sydney Opera House? Perhaps you prefer your wonders ancient in which case you can choose between Petra, Stonehenge, the Colosseum or the Great Wall of China. It is such a educational and democratic process that I recommend you to look it up even if it is just to see how many of the nominees you have visited or know of!

One of the aims of the competition to to draw attention to the destruction of cultural heritage that is taking place all over the world. Highlight you willingness to preserve the wonders of this world through your vote.

The demise of the Cambodge Soir

The Global Witness report has certainly caused a furore here in the Penh. Last week the Minister of Information said,

...he said that the government would not take action against newspapers that continue to publish the entire content of the report. (Source)

Because the Cambodian government respects the freedom of the press and death threats are funny! Despite this magnanimous gesture of not taking action against newspapers for doing their jobs, he

... issued an order to all newspapers to stop the publication of the Global Witness report... Minister of Information wrote in his statement sent to all newspaper editors to stop the integral publication of the Global Witness report. He said that if the publication continues, he will take legal action. On Sunday, Khieu Kanharith told The Cambodia Daily by phone that newspapers can publish reference to the report, but that they cannot publish the entire report. (Source)

So the government said that it's acceptable to reference the report but not to publish it. Obviously by banning the report, the government guaranteed a wide readership, but at least internet connections in Cambodia are still operational!

Then last week Soren Seelow was fired from the Cambodge Soir for publishing portions of the report. It was not the government but CS management. Indeed the position of shareholder Philippe Monin may have played a role in the affair.

Monin, who is also employed by the French Development Agency (AFD) to act as a adviser for the Cambodian agriculture ministry, told Seelow that his article would upset the authorities and put him in a difficult position... The story did not please Monin and the newspaper’s managing editor, who summoned Seelow on 10 June and told him he was fired. (Source)

In protest at the treatment of their colleague, the editorial staff went on strike on Monday, and on Tuesday, Societé des Editions du Mekong, who publish the Cambodge Soir announced the end of the paper, ostensibly due to financial difficulties.

Reporters without Borders notes that

A Cambodia-based journalist who spoke to Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity claimed that the new managing editor hired by Cambodge Soir’s board last September had been given the job of "sabotaging" the newspaper.

If that is the case, he could not have wished for a better success. The paper is gone and its reputation for independence is damaged. After 12 years, it's time to pack up and go home.

KRT update

It's amazing but it's done - the Khmer Rouge tribunal has adopted the internal rules. In ten days they come into effect and actual investigations can begin.

Click here for more

Oops there goes the environment

World Environment Day was yesterday, well today in some parts of the world. I read this article a few weeks ago and was saving it for WE day. The article details the sea of plastics in the Pacific ocean.

It began with a line of plastic bags ghosting the surface, followed by an ugly tangle of junk: nets and ropes and bottles, motor-oil jugs and cracked bath toys, a mangled tarp. Tires. A traffic cone. Moore could not believe his eyes. Out here in this desolate place, the water was a stew of plastic crap. It was as though someone had taken the pristine seascape of his youth and swapped it for a landfill.

How did all the plastic end up here? How did this trash tsunami begin? What did it mean? If the questions seemed overwhelming, Moore would soon learn that the answers were even more so, and that his discovery had dire implications for human—and planetary—health. As Alguita glided through the area that scientists now refer to as the “Eastern Garbage Patch,” Moore realized that the trail of plastic went on for hundreds of miles. Depressed and stunned, he sailed for a week through bobbing, toxic debris trapped in a purgatory of circling currents. To his horror, he had stumbled across the 21st-century Leviathan. It had no head, no tail. Just an endless body.

“Every one of us has this huge body burden,” Moore says. “You could take your serum to a lab now, and they’d find at least 100 industrial chemicals that weren’t around in 1950.” The fact that these toxins don’t cause violent and immediate reactions does not mean they’re benign: Scientists are just beginning to research the long-term ways in which the chemicals used to make plastic interact with our own biochemistry.

The oceans are choking and humanity is producing more and more plastic and only a tiny percentage is being recycled. This is not just killing the planet but it is killing ourselves. It is said that in the future we will not be producing plastic because the price of oil will be too high. Well now is not the time to be sitting around twiddling our thumbs.

Click here for environmental information from UNEP.

Amnesty colonising?

A top adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen and head of the government's human rights committee Friday accused Amnesty International of colonialism, after the right group's sharp criticism of the government's rights record in 2006.

Amnesty released "State of the World's Human Rights 2007" earlier this week, in which it said rights abuses in Cambodia continue.

"I don't understand Amnesty International," Hun Sen adviser Om Yentieng said. "It wants to put colonial rule on Cambodia, and it seems like it is too much. It is about time this should stop, the urge to rule Cambodia. Please let Cambodia have its freedom for development, and don't bother it too much. (Source)

So the PM's adviser, Om Yentieng, is accusing Amnesty International of colonialism. Apart from the utter ridiculousness of the statement, it shows that he does not understand the concept. Om Yentieng it is impossible to be a coloniser without governing a sovereign state. Amnesty is an international NGO, not a sovereign state.

Since when does pointing out human rights abuses equate to colonialism. Cambodia needs more scrutiny. People and organisations in a position of authority must point out abuses and suggest solutions or Cambodia may not arrest its slide into a police state. Yash Ghai is here to get input from government for his report on abuses in Cambodia to the Human Rights Council. No government official will meet him and the PM declares that he will never meet him again.

Certain political entities commit human rights abuses with impunity in Cambodia and without Amnesty and the UN that would continue unchecked. The local Cambodian NGOs do fantastic work but international pressure is a fundamental element in combating both the abuses and the climate of impunity in which they flourish.