Gendered Struggles and Competing Discourses: Pathways to Shelter in Cambodia

Author: Bearup, Luke & Seng, Sophea

Abstract: This study describes the perspectives of Khmer women on their pathways into shelters in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Their accounts emphasize the role of traditional gender norms and provide insight into how trafficking discourse and the insistence on victimhood makes it harder for non-government organizations (NGOs) to respond appropriately to violence against children and (mostly) women. Intensive qualitative interviews were undertaken with eighteen women who were formerly assisted by NGOs as victims of rape/sexual violence (n = 9) or sex-trafficking (n = 9). Whereas the former explained their transitions to shelter in the light of their escalating struggles for honor, justice, and safety, the latter described their own efforts to escape their captors and/or the interventions of NGOs and law enforcement agencies (LEAs). The women’s accounts emphasized how their perceived contraventions of traditional gender norms and their construction as “bad/broken” contributed to their ostracization, exploitation, and their need for protection and shelter. We argue that trafficking discourse has the tendency to obfuscate gendered social problems, impose symbolic violence on identified victims, and divert attention from rights-based policies aimed at addressing sexual and gender-based violence.

Keywords: Human trafficking, protection, shelters, rights, gender-based violence, Cambodia