Case Study 1: A Mekar s perspective

Transcription

1 Reducing the Risk of SGBV against Entertainment Workers in Phnom Penh Case Study 1: A Mekar s perspective

2 Background Cambodia established a legal framework to address Violence Against Women (VAW) by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1992 and by including articles protecting women against violence in the country s 1993 Constitution. Unfortunately, the convention was not successful and therefore in 2009 the four-year National Action Plan to Prevent Violence on Women (NAPVW) was launched, aimed at encouraging stronger implementation of the laws combating violence against women. Women in the entertainment industry are particularly at risk of sexual gender based violence (SGBV). In order to support the government s implementation of the NAPVW, ACTED received funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DfAT) in 2013 to implement a three year project aimed to reduce the risk of SGBV against EWs in Phnom Penh whilst also increasing access to support services for survivors of SGBV. The project has now been ongoing for nearly two years and in order to assess the impact of the project to date, a case study was conducted focusing on a manager (mekar) from one of the entertainment establishments supported by the project. Name: Dern Dorn Case Study Position: Mekar (Manager) of the Entertainment Establishment (EE) Entertainment Establishment: Mer Kmek2, Sangkat Chrouy ChangVa, Khan Russey Keo, Phnom Penh Dern Dorn is 47 years old and originally from Prey Veng province. He started working in his current position as a manager at Mer Kmek2 three years ago which currently employs 17 Entertainment Workers (EWs). His responsibilities include solving all problems occurring in the restaurant, maintaining contact with customers, managing his workforce and responding to any questions from the owner of the establishment. Additionally, Dern voluntarily participates in the project by coordinating employees participating in the project s outreach activities with the peer educators (PEs). Dern has a basic understanding about SGBV; to him, SGBV is men abusing the rights of women. Dern admits that before the project started he used rather impolite words towards women and did not significantly value them. However, following his involvement in the project, he has increasingly used appropriate words to women and now he feels that providing value to women is providing value to yourself too. As a result of the project, he has learned and established numerous skills for managing the establishment where he works, such as providing advice to employees on solving problems with customers, understanding SGBV, valuing the EWs, motivating them to participate in education sessions with NGOs, and he has received training on confronting customers when problems occur. Dern feels there is a strong difference already between before the project started and now. Before he was involved in the project, Dern just heard about SGBV problems without knowing what it actually meant, but after he talked to ACTED s PEs he gained valuable knowledge about this issue and what SGBV precisely means. As a result, he has changed his ideas and mind-set about SGBV considerably. Previously, he looked at these issues rather angrily, but now he is supportive and gentle towards survivors of SGBV.

3 Receiving training on SGBV and internalizing all issues connected to SGBV is useful to him and particularly useful for his employees as well. Dern comments that when they know more about this issue, I am happy, too. Additionally, he mentions that when a customer is practicing an activity which looks like an act of SGBV, he tells the customer that this place has NGOs teaching us about SGBV and if you practice an activity inappropriate to my staff, I will report you. You should not make problems, and if you do not stop an inappropriate activity, I will interfere and make you stop an activity like this. Dern thinks that it is useful for the EWs to know about SGBV and their rights because we should all know our rights and obligations and how to protect ourselves. According to him, if employees are aware of their rights, they have the power to stop and intervene when customers or other people misbehave and negatively affect them. In the future, Dern also mentioned that NGOs should consider working with the home communities of entertainment workers. He highlighted that many rural communities, where the entertainment workers originate from, are not aware of SGBV and the impact it has on people s lives. Dern also suggested ACTED consider providing information to guests at entertainment establishments. One suggestion was for ACTED to produce an information sheet in the form of a menu so that when guests order food they will also see information on SGBV and encourage them to change their attitude towards entertainment workers. He also suggested each restaurant, bar etc. should have sign boards providing information to guests. Lessons Learned 1. As a result of the project EWs have changed their attitudes, behaviours and practices; before, they did not know the meaning of SGBV and were shy but now they are brave enough to say what is right and what is wrong. Today, they are mostly encouraged to say what is wrong regarding a customer or other people. At the start of the project, when they were interacting with PEs for the first time, they were shy and could not say what they wanted to say because they were afraid and did not feel confident around the PEs. 2. After EWs participated in the outreach sessions with PEs regularly, they gained more trust and the PEs mentioned more relevant things regarding their problems which then positively affected the EWs change of ideas and perceptions. 3. The interviewed mekar clarified that in the future, he will tell the customers not to misbehave because he is in charge of his workforce and in his restaurant, they only sell food and nothing else. He further mentioned that if a customer uses inappropriate wording and threatens my restaurant, I will reject the

4 customer after a time and make him pay his bill and request him to leave. In case the client will not listen, he will report him to the police. Two years ago, before the start of the project, he said he would not have treated a customer like that because to him, the customer had the power and he, as the manager, did not have NGO support back then and considered himself and the EE as the seller. Being unfriendly and direct to the customers, the EE might lose the customer which equals a loss in profit. Now he is aware of strong NGO support on SGBV so customers are possibly also more aware of these problems. The mekar attended meetings with the Ministry of Women Affairs and with the 24-hours police hotline, established by the project, they can now easily reach authorities when problems occur, to report the perpetrator. The police now helps quickly, which means that nowadays they have both the Ministry and the police to help out in challenging situations, while they did not have anyone to help before the implementation of the project. 4. The mekar indicated that his restaurant now provides a safe environment for the EWs, e.g. he arranged fixed working hours. If the restaurant is about to close, then he requests the customer to pay the bill: he does not want the EWs to work over time. As a result of these changes, the EWs trust the mekar and the owner: if they trust the management, they are less likely to resign from their place because the mekar protects the rights of his workforce and values them. He furthermore illustrated that due to the project, he changed his ideas and awareness and the restaurant additionally introduced a 13 th month salary for employees, with the purpose of motivating them to work hard and also show them that the management cares about their well-being. Nowadays, the restaurant insures all employees, provides off-days, gives an extra salary for motivation and organizes parties for the employees. 5. Mekars are the key to the success of any SGBV project in EEs, in order to ensure information on SGBV is provided to all customers of the EE. In this particular case study, the mekar had put signs up in the bathroom and other places of the restaurant, with the purpose of providing information for the customer about the principles of the restaurant. All signs present content on relevant laws for SGBV (e.g. law of sexual harassment on women). As a result, in this restaurant, the mekar had already witnessed a positive change in behaviour and attitude of the customers: before the signs were installed, some customers had the habit of touching the women s buttock, but this behaviour changed because they saw the signs with relevant information on laws of SGBV, and all signs indicate the 24-hour police hotline. 6. Furthermore, the mekar mentioned that when he talks to the customers, he always stresses his core values. He thinks that if customers have the money to eat at a restaurant, they should simply not be involved with inappropriate practices regarding the EWs. Many of the EWs are rather poor and do these jobs in order to support their families living costs. He stressed again that he tries to spread the message: providing value to the women means providing value to you. He is convinced that talks like this have the power to change the mind-set and ideas of the customers because doing something wrong would affect their honour. If customers nevertheless sexually harass EWs, the mekar will call the police and solve the problem by using law.

5 Recommendations After the in-depth interview, several recommendations for the project can be drawn: 1. In all entertainment establishments, mekars and owners need to be aware of SGBV so they can share their knowledge with staff and guests, as well as pro-actively discourage SGBV. 2. As seen in this case study, collaboration with the mekar is the key for a successful implementation of the project. If the mekars are supportive and encouraging towards the EWs, the project can be sustainable for all participants including the EEs since a better work environment for all can also lead to a more profitable business. As such, it is important for the project team to conduct regular meetings with mekars, not only to ensure they allow workers in their establishments to participate in the project s outreach activities but also to allow the project to take into account suggestions and recommendations made by owners and Mekars. 3. The PEs should be considered as the main actors and connecting points between the EEs, the EWs and all the project s stakeholders. Thus, the above mentioned coordination with the mekars regarding time slots for possible training sessions needs to be continuously strengthened in the future through regular meetings. 4. Budget permitting, outreach materials should not only target entertainment workers but also guests to increase awareness of SGBV. Two suggestions are proposed for this: (1) the introduction of signs/posters for the staff and the guests with key SGBV messages and links to the project s referral system; (2) specific outreach materials for the guests, perhaps in the format of a SGBV menu.