Cambodian media outlets must work overtime to educate the public about women’s issues and modify behaviors that have driven many Cambodian women into prostitution, Women’s Ministry officials said.
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the UN Population Fund on Monday held their second annual bid at the Sunway Hotel to persuade print, electronic and television reporters to enhance coverage of gender and reproductive health. “Women and children are exploited in any service because people don’t understand gender yet,” said Chhoy Kim Sor, director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs’ Planning and Statistic Department.
Media outlets must use their power to disseminate accurate information concerning women’s health and safety issues, as well as systemic governmental and cultural norms that contribute to the subordination of women, ministry officials said.
“The media must cover women not as victims but as human beings,” Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua said. “Violence toward women is the result of a much bigger picture, like a [nonfunctioning] judiciary system.”
Ministry of Women’s Affairs Secretary of State Ing Kantha Phavy said serious attention must be paid to women’s wellness. She suggested news agencies encourage men to support female reproductive health.
Secondary diseases stemming from poor reproductive health plague women and children living in remote areas of the country, Ing Kantha Phavy said. Better promotion of birth control and safe abortions could curb high infant and maternal mortality rates, she said.
But low literacy and school enrollment levels throughout the country could stymie education efforts, Chhoy Kim Sor said.
Approximately 64 percent of women and 84 percent of men are literate, and these numbers do not seem to be improving among the younger generation, she said.
“Most parents don’t allow girls to continue their study at the capital or in other provinces. They say it’s not important because girls will be housewives and will have no time to work outside the house,” Chhoy Kim Sor said.
