Riding for Women's Rights
Date:
Author: Eve McGrady
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Covering over 350 km. by bicycle on an adventurous 12-day route, the Ride for Rights team is a group of roughly 25 women, of all ages, who have embarked on this challenge in order to support and raise awareness for women’s economic empowerment projects in Asia Pacific, to further gender equality through programs that aim to give women more independence and self-sufficiency.
Brought together under the Australian National Committee, their route takes them from Ho Chi Minh, through Cambodia, up to the finish line in Siem Reap. The team stopped off at UN Women’s offices in Phnom Penh on 17th March, fresh from a 76km cycle the previous day, arriving excited to get more of a detailed insight into the projects UN Women are carrying out. UN Women Representative in Cambodia Wenny Kusuma and her Deputy Sarah Knibbs welcomed the cyclists.
Many of the cycling team noted how during the challenge they had felt “overwhelmed” by the enormity and severity of poverty they had seen, and an informal discussion followed as Wenny Kusuma offered some inspiring thoughts.
She remarked that any initiative, whether big or small has a “ripple effect,” which the team experienced first-hand when they had the opportunity to see some UN projects in action in Viet Nam. They visited a UN Women National Committee Australia programme in Ca Mau and Dong Thap communities. Women there were trained to respond to natural disasters and to become more active in leadership roles in their communities.
Representatives from Action Aid, the People Health Development (PHD) organisation, the Open Institute and CAM-ASEAN all had varying angles on the issue of gender equality, each focusing on a different area. Action Aid is working to “make cities safer for women”, and PHD are concentrating on creating “a school environment without violence”, whilst CAMASEAN look to the problems faced by the LGBTI community.
An interesting discussion followed where members of the Ride for Rights group asked thought provoking questions, especially concerning the futures of these projects. The importance of the continuation of their projects was highlighted, with Ratanak Ou from PHD reflecting he is doing this work for “my sister, my daughter and my friends” and the next generations to come.
Alongside this, the significance of social media amongst youth was mentioned as a significant factor in raising awareness and reaching out. Sotheary You from Action Aid labelled it a “tool for change’’ in Cambodia, especially relevant considering that the 10-24 years age group compromises 36 per cent of the population. CAM-ASEAN representative Srun Srorn also emphasised that having a private Facebook group is like having “one room” for victims of LGBTI discrimination to share their experiences.
In the afternoon, the Ride for Rights team, joined by some members of the office visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and an exhibition currently running on the forced marriages that were carried out over the course under the Khmer Rouge regime. This trip served as a sombre reminder of the horrors faced in recent history by Cambodian women and girls, and the very tangible effect that remains today, on not only those who lived through it, but the sons and daughters growing up as products of these forced marriages. As many of the cyclists reflected on their day, they agreed that visiting these programs, and hearing some of the youth groups speak earlier that morning “all means more having witnessed the context in which the programs are being implemented.”