Fermented Fish Women Stirring Up the Pot "We used to be so busy finding enough food to eat that we couldn't be bothered to participate in political or social life. Now we can make a living a bit easier, so we want to participate in rebuilding our society," explained Arunvedi, a member of both Indra Devi, a local women's group, and of the Ponleu Khmer Coalition which organized a nonviolent campaign for greater democracy and peace following the UN-sponsored elections last June. Nou Sambo, vice-president of the Coalition, and an active member in the Women's Committee for Nonviolence, explained, "We are tired of the violence and bloodshed in our country. We are over 60% of the population, and we can no longer remain silent. That is why at first we began a campaign to educate women to exercise their voting rights. We are 60% of the voters." During their campaign, political threats, intimidation and assassinations were widespread throughout the country. However, the Committee decided to focus on the need to interest women in the elections and to educate them on their basic rights, particularly on their right to vote. In the process, the women also realised that they have and must play a vital role in building a road towards reconciliation and peace. "We are inspired by Buddhism in general and Venerable Maha Ghosananda specifically. He remains our spiritual guide, while Venerable Yos Hut and other monks advise us on more practical matters," said Sambo. "Peace depends on Buddhism. We participated in the Dhammayietra and organized the other festivals because we believe that only Buddhism can help us cultivate metta karuna (loving-kindness and compassion). Only metta karuna can enable us to truly understand and respect one another, the foundations of true peace. As Maha Ghosananda teaches us, we must have a peaceful heart first, and then develop mindfulness. When we have a compassionate and peaceful heart, it will spread to our families, and then to our country. It is the only way to end war. Simply, if you want to construct a peaceful and nonviolent society, you can not do it by using violence. You must walk on the nonviolent path to a nonviolent goal." Sochua Leiper, director of Khemara, the first Cambodian NGO (non-government organisation) in the country to focus on the developmental needs of women, commented, "We trust the monks to open the path for us, but afterwards we will walk down the path ourselves." Koy Veth, another woman leader, agreed. "We saw these old people and monks daring to walk across battlefields for peace. How could we remain silent and idle? We had to act!" Since the Dhammayietra, the Ponleu Khmer coalition has grown from fifteen to twenty-nine grassroots organizations lobbying for a more democratic and just constitution while empowering thousands of people along the way. The public debates over the constitution and nonviolence workshops they held around the country have effectively broken the silence of people far too accustomed to living in an environment dominated by fear. And in the process, people have begun to actively participate in making their own futures by showing their newly elected leaders the way to lead, a way which serves the people and respects their right to live in dignity. The final version of the constitution not only included a better separation of powers and an independent judiciary, but a commitment to form a human rights commission as well. Sambo added, "Women's rights provisions are much better in the final document which pledges to give special assistance to the poor, women, orphans, and disabled, including free access to education and medical care." This was a surprising accomplishment considering these social issues were not even mentioned in the earlier drafts. Another significant addition was the commitment to provide support for Cambodia's farmers which comprise more than 80% of the country's population. Some observers have said the provisions for women's rights are among the most progressive in the world, pointing out that housework is now officially considered to be of equal value to work outside of the home. "The final constitution follows almost 70% of our recommendations!" exclaimed Sambo. "It may not be perfect, but it is a good solid foundation from which to build on. Now we just have to make them practice it!" Yet this foundation will require constant monitoring, as the women are already painfully aware. When the new cabinet was announced in early November, not one woman was granted a ministerial post, and even the Secretariat of Women's Affairs was headed by a man. The Coalition immediately began drafting press statements and petitions, one of which read, "We urge the Ministers of the new government to review the new constitution, particularly Article 45, which forbids discrimination on the basis of sex and protects women's rights delineated in the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women." They also sought private meetings with concerned politicians to lobby for the appointment of a woman cosecretary and a parliamentary committee for women's rights. At a more grassroots level, the Coalition has plans for forming a women's caucus and continuing their seminars on gender. In addition, a new NGO has just been created to teach women's rights and legal literacy for women, while another has hopes for developing a women's resource and training centre. Their lobbying efforts have proven to be a perfect opportunity for the women to display their commitment to nonviolence and practice a new style of resolving conflicts. Thyda Khus, one of the leading women in the Khmer peace movement explained, "Nonviolence is both our method and our belief... We are learning new ways to settle differences, new mediating techniques because we so desperately need other skills to avoid resorting to power, coercion, killing, and war." Arunvedi, another activist, added, "We women are better at speaking nonviolently, in a nonthreatening manner than men. We are also better at contacting officials and government authorities in a non-challenging manner which allows for better dialogue and a greater opportunity for negotiation. During the campaign to publicise the draft constitution, for example, we contacted the information ministry and established a good relationship with them. Then they cooperated in broadcasting the information. Our movement had benefited enormously from women being the ones contacting the officials." This role is certainly not a new one. As Arunvedi explained, "In our tradition we mostly hear about quiet subservient women, who obey the men because they are dependent on them. But we also have a tradition of powerful women. We have many stories of strong and clever women, though they are rarely told today." Kim Leng, one of the main organizers of the Dhammayietra and subsequent workshops on Buddhism and Active Nonviolence added, "It is only recently that we were taught to stay at home and cook and clean and not participate in society. When people complain we are reversing traditional roles, I remind them of the 'traditional' story of Phnom Srey and Phnom Proh (Girl Mountain and Boy Mountain)." "A race was held between men and women to see who could construct their temple the fastest on the mountain tops before dawn. The women were very clever and lit a cloth rag on fire and threw it up into the sky. The lazy men thought it was the morning star, so they went to sleep. The women, however, worked all through the night and finished their temple, winning the race. In fact, we have many traditional stories showing strong and capable women, like Phnom Srey and Phnom Proh, but those are not told often enough." Indeed the stories most often told, as in most cultures, are the ones which perpetuate subservient position of women. "Having a baby girl is like having a phra hok (fermented fish) in the house," goes one Cambodian saying. Not only is it smelly it easily goes bad. Unlike a boy any simple act can sully a girl's reputation forever. "If she makes the slightest mistake, even as a child, she is branded and never loses the label. Boys get many chances, and usually when they are bad it is just chalked up to being part of boyhood. Not so with girls. Their reputations can be ruined for life by a slip of the tongue," explained Kim Leng. "Many parents still tell their girl children that they don't need to study because it is their karma that they were born girls. They think they did something wrong in their previous lifetime." Yet by participating in, indeed leading, this grassroots movement for a peaceful democratic society, Cambodian women are challenging these traditions and reclaiming the Phnom Srey story. Not only do women more often contact authorities in a non-challenging manner, but, as Arunvedi noted, "We women organized and controlled all of the large public events. We saw by organizing the Dhammayietra and other peace festivals, with thousands of people participating, that we could do it. So now more women are becoming active and participating in the development of our country, where before only men have been ruling." In fact the activities couldn't be done in any other way, according to Thyda. "Men are not as effective as women and monks; and because our movement is mainly led by us, it is easy to maintain our nonviolence and our credibility." Reflecting on the role of women in the movement, Ven. Kim Teng one of the main organizers of the Dhammayietra said, "Women now are beginning to realize they must depend on themselves. Some men are still afraid of women taking a larger role in society, and so they criticise the women and say they can't do anything but cook and clean. But others see how they have persisted and they are impressed since they see how it benefits us all. Regardless of what others say though, the women continue to struggle and they must, even if some people don't really value them. Their leading role in this movement is one which will allow other women to begin to understand that they too can do it. They can join our associations or otherwise support women who are doing it." Thyda noted that most women's groups "have not yet gone past the macro-level. While we are discussing larger peace issues, we need to stop and see ordinary, everyday violence. Domestic violence directly affects nearly three quarters of all Khmer women. Although it is understandable that the violence is occurring due to the economic crisis and the fact that many former military men are without jobs who then take it out on their wives. But we must do it, though we will make a lot of enemies when we tackle the issue." Kim Leng agreed. "I know so many women who are beaten or abused by their husbands. They have two or three wives and provoke arguments between families. Whether or not they beat them, most don't let them out of the house except to go to the market. They say all they need to do is keep house. I am lucky, no man ever tried to stop me from doing anything. My husband supports me, but I don't know many Cambodian women like me. Why do so many men abuse their wives or is it only Cambodian men who do this? " Not surprisingly, Thyda added, "The majority of the active women are widows, divorced or single. Very few of us have husbands that participate and are supportive. We are challenged every time we organize a big event since we, married or not, must hurry home to cook a meal for our families. But we're beginning to see a positive change. More and more men see the activities that we organize as positive and good." Phoung Sith, vice-president of Ponleu Khmer and a leading member of the human rights organization Vigilance, explained "Many women don't get involved in political or social activities. Since people are still traditional, when they see a woman out in public with a man, they don't think he is a colleague, but that she is looking for a love affair. We have to both encourage women to dare and men to allow in order to support women becoming involved in the social and political life of our country." "We are challenging, or rather changing, traditional roles because times are changing. It is a new era for us, for all Cambodians. We are rebuilding society and to participate in that rebuilding we must change traditional roles. The only way we women will see our needs met is by participating in decision-making, which means participating in politics," explained Sochua Leiper. "The focus for the future has to be on women in politics. We must train women at all levels. Fundamental issues for us will not change unless we get women in there." Liz Bernstein from Seeds of Peace, Vol 10 No 1