• Society

Women Run to Defend their Rights

• By Po Sakun
• April 4, 2023 4:26 PM

PHNOM PENH – Women’s rights are an everyday matter. This is why a group of young people aged 18 to 26 organized a run for women’s rights in Siem Reap province three weeks after celebrating International Women’s Day, which is traditionally held on March 8.

On March 25, the Purple Youth Group, a newly-formed organization that defends women’s rights and promotes gender equality throughout Cambodia, organized an 8-kilometer run to defend women’s rights in Cambodian society.

About 100 people, women and men, participated in the race, from Siem Reap downtown, toward Angkor Thom’s southern entrance Tonle Om Gate, through the Charles de Gaulle boulevard and Angkor Wat temple.

While some ran the whole way through, others felt they couldn’t make it as fast and decided to walk. But the sport wasn’t the main goal here and many female participants took the chance to speak up for their defending their rights.

Mat Srey Cheak was one of them. The 24-year-old woman from Banteay Meanchey province had never run in a race before but she managed to be the first woman to cross the finishing line. She felt confident as she is used to walking up to 10 kilometers several times a week.

“I was confident enough that I could do it so I decided to apply. I estimated I had a 50-percent chance to win the race,” she said.

While winning wasn’t her first goal, Cheak ran as fast as she could and used her determination to promote the value of women in Cambodian society, and especially self-esteem, as a fuel to push her faster than her competitors.

“As a woman, I want to be independent and to feel I deserve to be granted the rights that men have, while they often look down on women’s value,” she said, “[The race] is an opportunity to show the world that women can do as much as men. This campaign aims to promote women’s rights. As a woman, if I do not participate in promoting my own rights, who else will do it?”

Lov Samly, a grade 11 student and first-time runner, shares the same views. “Women play an important role in the development of society and have as much ability as men,” she said at the finishing line.

While she didn’t compete to get any medal, she ran to promote women’s rights, especially as women are getting more roles and responsibilities in modern days.

But she still encourages women to be more courageous in overcoming all obstacles.

“I almost give up halfway because of exhaustion. But thanks to my determination I started walking and running till the finish line,” she said. “I’m so happy that I reached my goal. Whether I win or not doesn’t really matter.”

Is the road ahead to gender equality still long?

While defending women’s rights is not only a cause that women must defend alone, many young men also participated in the race.

Suy Kosal, a 15-year-old student from Siem Reap province, came to run to show that he fully supports the promotion of women’s rights after he learned about the campaign on social media.

Even though he came late and started to run after everyone, he managed to finish on top of the podium, as is used to running 5 kilometers every day.

“I like to participate in programs like this and want to promote women's rights. As men, promoting women's rights is showing that we value and respect women,” he said.

But not all men have the same understanding of gender equality, which reinforces the need for such campaigns organized by Purple Youth.

Tut Sophan, a 25-year-old man who ran his first competition said he was there to release stress and get more understanding about the campaign.

While he observed that today's society does not fully value women's rights, both in terms of work and skills, he believes that some of the women’s behaviors are the reason why men and society, in general, don’t value them.

“Some women wear clothes that are too short. This factor makes them look disreputable. It is their right, but our Khmer traditions and our society can’t accept it,” he said.

“At this point, I think they do not value themselves. They have rights, but those rights are also limited: If it crosses the line, they must be criticized,” he added.

Horn Sokleang, a member of the Purple Youth group said Cambodian society only partly values women. In developed areas, women have more opportunities to learn and participate in social activities, possibly more than men.

But in remote rural areas, people are still attached to the old idea that women must be stuck to the kitchen stove. Because of the so-called traditions, women are usually less educated and can’t strengthen their ability to be part of society and defend their rights.

“In remote areas, women discuss a lot about their will to truly do what they love. But they are always interrupted or strictly forbidden to do those things. It is particularly true for indigenous women,” said Sokleang.

Given the success of the first event, Horn Sokleang is determined to organize this campaign every year and wishes to see it grow over time.

Purple Youth was created in 2022 when 90 women from different educational and social backgrounds held an online forum to discuss women's rights. This campaign posted messages related to women's rights to celebrate International Women's Day on the Purple Youth Facebook page.

The group mostly comprises young women aged from 18 to 26 years old. Most of them are university students, members of the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), interns, or former CYN staff members.

 

Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Te Chhaysinh for Cambodianess.