REWIND

It’s a Man’s World: Rape in Cambodia

We rewind to 2013 when 101 East travelled to Cambodia to talk with men who admit rape and violence against women.

Gang rape hit the headlines in a big way after the brutal attack of a woman on a bus in India’s capital, Delhi in 2012. But research showed that gang rape was a problem not just in India but across Asia.

The normalisation of violence against women... is still a common pattern around the world.

by Dr Emma Fulu, The Equality Institute

In 2013, 101 East travelled to Cambodia, a country with some of the highest rates of rape in the region, to speak with men themselves about why they commit these crimes against women.

REWIND caught up with Dr Emma Fulu, the founder and director of The Equality Institute, which works to advance gender equality and prevent violence against women, to find out if there has been any progress in changing attitudes since 2013. 

“The normalisation of violence against women, unfortunately, I think is still a common pattern around the world,” Fulu says.

But according to her, “the issue of violence against women is on the international agenda in a way that it wasn’t in 2013. In 2015, the sustainable development goals were launched and they now include a specific target on the elimination of violence against women and girls. So countries are required now to report on how they’re progressing in achieving that outcome.

“On the other hand is a pretty strong backlash to the women’s rights movement and to this issue of violence against women. I think you see that in social media, in mainstream media, you see it in the political sphere – I think you see that in the most recent US presidential election, where there was a huge amount of sexism and misogyny that was observed, and I think that level of backlash to the movement is becoming more pronounced. The positive thing about that backlash is what it actually shows, that we are moving forward.”