International Women's Day (IWD)

Happy International Women's Day! Well technically it was yesterday here in Cambodia, but who says that it has be just one day?! While IWD began in 1911, Cambodia did not adopt it as a holiday until 1994 and began plans to adopt laws to stop violence against women. The Secretariat of Women's Affairs that year wrote that "Although war and destruction have affected all Cambodians of every level of society, women have undoubtedly been most victimized by these years of conflicts. Women are over 60 percent of the population...and more than 30 percent of these women must raise their families alone...The improved status of women, including the full recognition and participation of women in the reconstruction of the country, is the fundamental base for sustainable development and peace...Cambodia cannot afford to ignore the strength of its women and the suffering they have endured for more than two decades...The culture of violence pervading a society at war has fostered tolerance of violence against women. Although recent economic improvements have benefited a very small portion of the society, women have not reaped many of such gains."

"It will benefit our children. In fact we are doing this for them. It is a first step. We hope it is the first step to build a society which creates effective laws and puts them into practice to protect women's rights...."

Since 1994, women's status has improved in Cambodia because of efforts by passionate individuals and groups, however equality and human rights are not easily achieve here or anywhere in the world (America included). Yet, the focus of IWD in Cambodia and the across the world in recent years has been to celebrate and continue to look toward the future. IWD is a celebration of the achievements of every woman and a day to inspire the next generation of female leaders to build a world where equal rights is a reality. 

I meet weekly with a girls club at the high school in my community. The club is made of about twenty 9th grade girls and we discuss gender issues in the community and country and women's rights and health. This week the girls decided to make a sign to put in front of the school to raise awareness for IWD and then to have a small party to celebrate their achievements and talk about their bright futures. This is the beautiful work that they did and here is a little video where the girls discuss why IWD is important to them, the community, and the world. Enjoy!