Provide women and girls education in Cambodia

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your continued support of WRC - it truly means the world to us and to the women and men that use our center. Yes, that's right, men too! 

Engaging men in discussions about gender is crucial to the fight for gender equality. Our Men's Coffee Talks bring together men from the community to share experiences and learn about the roles of fathers and husbands in creating a positive family dynamic.

So far this year we have held two Men’s Coffee Talks, where we bring together men from across the community for informal discussions about gender. The casual nature of these discussions makes it easier to talk about difficult topics, such as the challenges men face, the roles of fathers in family and family communication. The talks are facilitated by our Social Workers who are on hand to give advice, support, and insights. It is important for our Social Workers to attend these talks too in order to learn from the experiences of men in our community and improve our programs. Eight men have participated in coffee talks so far this year with really positive results.

“I shared my parenting approach to the group: bring my kid to school, take them from the school, play
with my kids and advise them in the good word to do good things.” - Dara, Men’s Coffee Talk Participant

You can see more about our work with men and how that impacts the community as a whole in our Mid Year Report 2019 and our video - both links below the final picture.

Thank you once again for your support and enabling us to empower women and men to create a more equal understanding here in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Best wishes,

KONG Vanthat

Executive Director

Links:

• Mid year report 2019
• WRC video

Women's Resource Center (WRC) works tirelessly to combat violence against women and help them get back on their feet - Linda was one of the many women that reached out to WRC for support. Linda worked on a tour ship and was unable to stay home to look after her two daughters so it was her husband’s role while she was away at work. The husband was abusive and scolded her and their children; Linda did not feel safe going home from work because she feared her husband. One day, she went to visit WRC to tell her story and seek help from our social worker. Linda returned to the center a second time and announced that she wants to divorce her husband and needed a lawyer. In May 2016, Linda and her husband went to court and she lost custody of her children because she did not have time to look after them due to her job; however, she had the right to visit them anytime. Her husband did not respect the agreement and would make it difficult for Linda to see her daughters - he would insult, threaten, or use violence against her. Linda described the difficulty of visiting her children, “every time I went to see my children, I was always afraid because my husband would not let me see them easily. He used abusive words, threatened the children if they came near me and refused to let them spend time with their mother”. Linda went back to WRC and got the support of a social worker to sue her husband. Linda went to court with the social worker by her side and won the court case - she finally had custody of her children. Linda changed her job to be closer to home and expressed her contentment to WRC , “I am happy that I am able to spend time with my children, I am able to live closer, and I feel very warm [good inside].”    

75% of the women that come to WRC for counselling seek advice on domestic violence. On average we see several cases like Lindas every week. Your support has been key in helping us to help Linda and her children. Thank you!