Women Struggle to Leave Behind “Chbab Srey” In Cambodia

In Cambodia, women are viewed in an entirely different light than their male counterparts. “For centuries, the Chbab Srey has been determining how women should act in their daily lives and the treatment they should be given by men in their culture. The Chbab Srey is a written, customary law going back centuries. Although it has never been turned into official statute law, its influence in Cambodian society remains deep-rooted. Along with its equivalent version for men – Chbab Proh – it is taught in school at an early age, with boys and girls having to recite it out loud on a daily basis (ASafeWorldForWomen.org).” A common proverb in Cambodia compares a woman to a white cloth and a man to a bar of gold. The cloth can be stained, even a little bit, and then it is ruined forever. A bar of gold can be tarnished, but if it is polished, it will shine like new again. A stained cloth is worth nothing, but a gold bar is always worth something. While these gender inequalities seem to slowly be dissipating in the urban cities in Cambodia, such as the capitol Phnom Penh, the rural areas of Cambodia are years and years behind. “Human rights experts and gender activists have criticized the Chbab Srey as legitimizing discrimination towards women and girls, perpetuating gender stereotypes and attitudes that are serious obstacles to gender equality and the empowerment of women in Cambodia. The Code is also often cited as a major contributing factor to the high level of domestic violence in the country – a justification for an uneven power relationship between women and men that is a root cause of gender-based abuse (CEDAW In Action).” Women are supposed to be subordinate to their husbands, never back talk or question what they say, and follow instructions. They are not supposed do anything that will make themselves attractive to other men. They should not brush their hair in public, as this could be misconstrued as an act to attract a man. One piece of code says that women are supposed to stay home to take care of the woman’s duties and to always behave quietly and sweetly. If your husband decides to take a mistress, you must “let him wander and he will return to you eventually.”

The gender inequalities expand a lot farther than just in the private lives of Cambodians. It also affects education. Since men are viewed as more valued, families tend to educate only their male children. Women are traditionally viewed as the homemakers and the subordinates who do not need education. “Rural and urban women in Cambodia are quite different from one to another in terms of perspective and lifestyle. The rate of dropping out of school of provincial girls is higher than that in urban areas whereas security and economy, in average, is not very comparable. Many Cambodian families cannot economically afford to keep their daughters in schools, and as cultural gender biases favor the education of boys over girls, many young girls drop out of school after primary school (FutureChallenges.org).” 

After watching the documentary Finding Face, it made me truly grateful to live in the United States where woman are equal in (almost) every way to men. I know this “code of conduct” is very important to Cambodian culture, but I hope that someday they can move past this archaic mindset. Women in the capitol city are finally starting to be able to express themselves as individuals and not just components of their husbands, but there is still a lot of work to be done in the rural areas of Cambodia. The education rates for Cambodian women are going up, slowly but surely. Change is happening, but it’s just taking it’s time.