Title: Lay and Institutional Knowledges of Domestic Violence Law: Towards Active Citizenship in Rural and Urban Cambodia
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: Domestic violence (DV) is a one of the starkest collective failures of the international community in the 21st century. It represents not only a fundamental barrier to eliminating poverty and building peace, but also impoverishes women, their families, communities and countries. It is the most pervasive form of violence against women in the developing world and represents one of the most significant barriers to gender equality and women's empowerment. Although a growing number of laws have been passed to protect women, governments from around the world have struggled to convert promises into prevention. Focus has traditionally been placed on understanding the magnitude of DV and have centred mainly on women as victims and survivors. Since 1994 however, the international development community have adopted a 'rights-based' approach to their work, concentrating not only on relieving poverty and suffering, but addressing their root causes. Despite this change in emphasis, important links have not been made between men's and women's access to legal information, their legal knowledge, and the influence this has on women's ability to claim their rights. Implementation strategies could benefit from a far greater appreciation of how these connections are perceived and experienced by different age groups of men and women from low-income communities. Understanding the gendered attitudes and responses of local authority, police and judicial officials who are charged with enforcing such laws is also critical. This study concentrates on the 2005 'Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of the Victims' in Cambodia. It seeks to produce a clearer picture of the challenges and hindrances which have resulted in a situation where large swathes of local authority staff, police officers and the general public, do not understand the law, or even know of its existence. An adequate evidence base does not yet exist to substantiate or respond to these NGO claims The study therefore asks: - How much knowledge do different men and women have of the 2005 Law and of policies seeking to empower women? And what are their attitudes towards such policies? - If and how knowledge of the 2005 Law and women's rights is being translated into more critical thinking and genderequitable attitudes? - Whether greater knowledge of the 2005 Law brings about any transformative change in women's lives (and if not, why not)? The UK and Cambodian academics working on this project are collaborating with two NGOs that are actively involved in programmes to reduce DV in Cambodia. Their awareness-raising activities include radio shows, travelling dramas and the annual organisation of the White Ribbon Campaign to promote male responsibility for DV reduction. The research has been designed to understand differences between communities in which these organisations have/not already worked. It also questions the differences between rural and urban communities given that the majority of support services, and progresses in addressing gender concerns, are to be found in urban areas of the country. In rural areas of Cambodia (which make up around 85% of the total population), gender resources and legal aid are extremely rare and customary norms sustaining men's dominance over women are arguably strongest. Conducted in two provinces, the research will use a survey of households to establish levels of knowledge on the 2005 Law and see what associations can be made to different individual, community and societal factors. It will also make films with local communities on DV and use interviews with key individuals to uncover the range of knowledges and experiences surrounding DV (law). As a post-conflict country experiencing rapid social and economic change, the findings will be of significance to other countries which share a similar recent history and which are looking towards effective implementation of hard fought legal advances for women.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: DISPUTED AETIOLOGY AND OTHER