According to a research report released by an NGO named CARE, nearly one-third of women in the Cambodian garment industry experienced sexual harassment in last 12 months. This shocking revelation and the financial impact it causes has elicited mixed reaction within the industry. The research said that the financial cost of sexual harassment due to loss of productivity totalled around US $ 89 million. The study was conducted by CARE in cooperation with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).
“The Government needs to tackle the issue in an industry that makes up almost a third of the country’s GDP,” averred Ath Thorn, President of Cambodian Labour Confederation. He further added that some workers continue working but feel sad because they have no one to help them, or they don’t want to show up in public because of Cambodian culture and that’s why many sexual harassment cases go unreported.
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However, Ken Lou, GMAC Secretary General, strongly disagreed with the findings by mentioning that sexual harassment incidences were not as prevalent as the research suggested and the financial loss was based on assumptions. “We don’t agree the occurrence is as high as the report claims. This is an issue we do not condone, and of course we work to address this problem, but the loss is based on assumptions we do not necessarily agree with,” he commented.
He further cited GMAC’s own monitoring programmes in factories which saw fewer sexual harassment cases reported than those by CARE: “In fact, the opportunity for sexual harassment is a lot lower than in other countries because most of the supervisors are female,” he remarked.
Choun Momthol, President of Cambodian Union Federation, who had not read the report, opined that it was difficult to define sexual harassment in Cambodia, and also questioned whether CARE had its own agenda for conducting its research. “They conducted the survey, we have no idea about it, but CARE has its own mandate to conduct research for their own purposes,” he added.
On the contrary, Adriana Siddle, CARE International Advisor, agreed that lack of education and awareness regarding sexual harassment meant that it was a subject that is difficult to comprehend. “CARE acknowledges that sexual harassment can be difficult for people to understand and it can be poorly understood in Cambodia,” she remarked.