World

W Dayy for Prevention of Ch hild Abuse

e – 19 Noveember,
“Child Parrticipation in Preventting Abuse
e and Viole
ence
against Chhildren”

Abuse
A againsst women andd girls is on the rise in Cambodia, acccording to a
government
g r
report releaseed in Novembber of 2008. Nearly one ffourth of all
females in C Cambodia haave suffered from domesstic violence. Moreover,
young
y girls hhave increasin
ngly become ttargets of sexxual assault, according
a to
the
t most reccent Cambodiian Gender A Assessment Survey,
S also released in
2008.
2 The reeport, releaseed by the Miinistry of Wo omen's Affairs, said the
growing
g use of drugs and alcohol by m men was leadinng to malicioous behavior
against femalle Cambodian ns. The repoort also said thhat more thann half of all
wom men felt dom
mestic violencce was justified in some ccases in what it called “a m mentality of passive
p accepptance” that
hass prevented effforts to end the
t problem. As a result, SSF believes that increassed educationn and stop hunnger are the
most important factors
f in chaanging the attiitudes that alllow attacks onn women andd children to go
g unreportedd.

Altthough in the last decade, great progreess has been m made around the world too inform peopple about the realities of
chilld abuse, last year SSF waas one of onlyy five organizzations in all of
o Cambodia took the oppportunity to reecognize the
worrldwide Childd Abuse Prev vention day ono Novemberr 19th. Whilee the other grroups focusedd primarily onn writing to
politicians, SSF has approach hed it on a coommunity levvel, where undderstanding oof what constiitutes as childd abuse is at
a minimum.
m Altthough nearlyy everyone reecognizes thatt violence agaainst childrenn is wrong, many
m parents aand children
do not understaand the emottional harm inflicted
i on cchildren through other foorms of abuse that are noot as easily
recoognized.

 
Small grroup discussio
on about defin
nitions and terrms of child, child
c rights an
nd abuse on 19
9 November 2008
2
at SS
SF compound..
In a pretest connducted beforre the all dayy educationall session, SSF F concluded that 95 per cent
c of the participating
p
chilldren did nott know or unnderstand thee meaning off words and terms, “childd, child rightts, child respponsibilities,
dommestic violencce, and abusee”, whilst the other 5 per ceent were unsuure of their m
meanings. Wh hen asked aboout domestic
violence, most participants
p c
could only give us answeers relating too physical viiolence or abbuse such as hitting and
beaating etc. Theeir concept of different foorms of abusee such as emootional harasssment and chiild neglect was minimal.
Thrroughout the day, the 45 participating
p oups in an atttempt to definne and better understand
children mett in small gro
impportant concepts and criterria of child abbuse. At the ssame time, eqqual focus waas placed on informing
i thee children of
theiir rights and responsibilitie
r es as childrenn in a family.

SSFF believes thaat every child

d has the righht to live withhout fear of thheir parents or
o guardians, and that everry child has
the right to earnn an educationn. These are both ideas thhat are not cuurrently prevaalent in Cambbodia, especiaally in rural
areaas that suffer from a generral lack of edducation. Vioolence can havve severe impplications for children’s deevelopment.
In the
t most seveere cases, it can
c lead to death
d or injurry, however it
i can also afffect children’s health, theeir ability to
learrn, and even their
t willingn
ness to go to school
s at all.

Vioolence destroyys children’s self-confidennce and can uundermine theeir ability to bbe good parennts in the futuure, a major
facttor contributiing to the peerpetuation off domestic viiolence all ov
ver the worldd. By seekin ng to increasee awareness
aboout the realitiees of child ab
buse and dommestic violencce, SSF hopees that the 45 children and d adults who pparticipated
thiss past year in Child Abusee Prevention day
d will servee as role moddels for the resst of the community, whilee SSF plans
to expand
e upon last year’s suuccess this com
ming Novembber. In the words
w of Licaddo Spokesman n, Vann Sophhat, “What a
chilld needs to doo,” he says, “is
“ go to schoool and gain kknowledge to become a weell-educated citizen
c for thee country in
the future.”’

 
Participated children
n were took th
he photo with 19 Novemberr logo provided.