In Cambodia, No Bribe, No Rape Investigation

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-03-14 14:18:00 UTC
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More and more women and girls are getting raped in Cambodia, but if they don't have the cash to pay off law enforcement, they can forget about an investigation into their assault. Basically, if you're poor, it's okay to rape you, and you don't deserve justice.

A new Amnesty International report issued for International Women's Day, Breaking the Silence: Sexual Violence in Cambodia, details the way the Cambodian criminal justice system heaps insult upon injury for rape survivors. Police won't investigate without bribes, and treat survivor's stories with disbelief and ignorance, and legal aid is hard to come by for low-income women. Sex workers are also found to be particularly vulnerable to both rape and an inability to garner aid through the criminal justice system. Corruption + victim-blaming = major FAIL.

Meanwhile, survivors often lives in fear of their attackers, who remain free to walk the streets -- and to assault again. And then the medical system adds injury to injury, since many rape victims cannot afford the health bills for treatment.

The prevalence of rape is on the rise in Cambodia, no doubt aided by this weak enforcement; how much of an increase is impossible to tell, since many victims don't file reports, knowing the obstacles they face to any positive resolutions, and the police keep inadequate records of the cases that do come to them. However, inroads against human trafficking and domestic violence in Cambodia prove that something can be done to change this situation, if the government prioritizes it -- but not without breaking the silence, as Amnesty says.

Photo credit: Samjhana Moon

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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