Thursday, March 28, 2024

Family members involved in one-third of rape cases in Cambodia: Report

Victims of sexual assault from a family member face an uphill battle for justice, an NGO said.

• December 10, 2020
Rape photo used to illustrate this story
Rape photo used to illustrate this story (Photo Credit: Guardian Nigeria

Rape within families is widespread in Cambodia with the largely underage victims regularly failed by the legal system, new research has found.

The report was released on Thursday by an NGO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO).

It stated that nearly a third of rape or attempted rape cases that it investigated involved either a blood relative or in-law of the victim.

Analysing all of the 446 cases it probed between 2017 and 2019, the NGO found that some 80 percent were children under 18.

Victims of sexual assault from a family member face an uphill battle for justice, said LICADHO Deputy Director of monitoring Am Sam Ath.

“The harms of family rape are well known, but there is still not enough being done to make sure that perpetrators are held accountable,’’ he said.

Out of the 137 cases involving a relative, only 53 percent resulted in a conviction that led to the perpetrator serving an appropriate prison sentence.

Some 19 percent resulted in a light conviction, a short sentence and, or the perpetrator being convicted in absentia without an arrest.

While other cases remain in limbo, many victims were unable to come forward, the group said.

“The long-standing and persistent barriers to justice for people who are raped in Cambodia are compounded for women and girls who are raped by a relative.

“These individuals face additional barriers of family pressure to ignore sexual violence, and often rely financially on the perpetrator,’’ the authors wrote.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

NationWide

Implementation of attractive road map will boost blue economy: Peterside

“For blue economy to thrive, most important factor today in Nigeria is security.’’

Ignatius Kaigama

Faith

Archbishop Kaigama advises priests on selflessness, dedication to duty

“The Lord offers us His love and redemption through the price He paid on the cross.’’

President Bola Tinubu

NationWide

Killers of soldiers on peace mission in Delta won’t go unpunished: Tinubu

They went as peacemakers and peacekeepers respectfully seeking to bring an end to the hostilities between the two communities.

Dele Alake

NationWide

Minister orders new NSCDC marshals to smoke out illegal miners

Mr Alake said there were plans for other security sister agencies to integrate their officers into the outfit structure.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima

Health

FG pledges training of teaching hospital personnel to enhance healthcare delivery

“I commend the CMD and his team for providing quality leadership to the hospital’’