UC Students Participate in the White Ribbon Campaign
Chet Pisey (Head of Training and Translation)
On November 25, 2012, the University of Cambodia, (UC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the People Health Development (PHD) Association, hosted a program entitled “I Pledge to Stop Violence against Women and Children for Development”, to celebrate the 16 days of the Action and White Ribbon Campaign: an international effort to eliminate violence against women and children.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ou Ratanak (Executive Director of the PHD Association) said that there are many types of violence committed by men while women and children are mostly victims. He added that many girls drop out of school at a low grade in order to get a job and generate income for supporting their families. However, those women risk being badly abused in their daily lives by violence as they lack of knowledge, information and abilities. Mrs. Por Malis (Vice-President for Operations at the University of Cambodia) underlined that the university has tried its best to inform all people, particularly men, to stop violence. She stressed that the University of Cambodia continues to encourage students to be thoughtful and be responsible for their actions and words towards other individuals and improve understanding of people’s obligations and the need to abide by all laws including those related to the protection of women’s rights as well as to eliminate all types of violence against women.
The opening session was followed by a skit, a question-and-answer session, and a certificate presentation ceremony.
in supporting government policies on improving gender relations and eliminating all forms of violence against women and children. Her Excellency continued that the strong support of the University in this campaign will help raise awareness among the youth about violence against women and children. She emphasised that the youth play important roles in the promotion of gender equality and equity within Cambodian society.
The White Ribbon campaign was established in 1991 and commemorates 14 women who were killed at a Canadian University in 1989 by a gunman because of gender discrimination. Shortly afterward, a group of Canadian men came together and decided that it was their responsibility to encourage others to speak out about violence against women, and that they would wear white ribbons to signify a “Personal pledge to never commit, condone, or ignore violence against women”. The wearing of white ribbons is observed for a 16-day period.
