Creating Safe Spaces Creating safe spaces for queer people is critical in the fight for equality and for them to have a voice. It took a police crackdown at the Stonewall Inn — one of the few bars in New York’s Greenwich Village that welcomed the queer community — for members of the community to stand against the violence they faced, demand an end to discrimination and spark the global Pride movement.
Horns and Headlamps: Cleaning Cambodia’s Recyclable Trash It is not an unusual sight to see narrow beams of light scanning the streets around markets every evening in Phnom Penh. The beams of light move from one pile of trash to another, occasionally stopping to see if there is any plastic, aluminum or recyclable waste.
Sketching a Pride Future Cambodians from the LGBTQIA+ community face stigmatization and discrimination, and do not have access to the legal protections they are entitled to under universal human rights which are endorsed by the Cambodian government.
Let’s Talk About Sexual and Reproductive Health Talking about sex, pregnancy, abortions or menstrual health is rarely handled well in our homes or society and is often dealt with as an uncomfortable or stigmatized experience that everyone would rather ignore than deal with. In Cambodia, some of these moral and societal norms come from traditional diktats like chbap srey which sets out a code of conduct for women and explicitly shames their sexual activity.
Filled In and Pushed Out For the last three years, residents in northern Phnom Penh have seen a steady stream of construction trucks ferrying rubble into the waters of Boeung Tamok lake. After each truckload is dumped into the water and the cloud of dust settles, the lake they have lived next to for decades slowly disappears.
The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams Kruy Phal sits at a small store on a dusty road right next to a massive condominium development in southern Phnom Penh, selling snacks, groceries and bright colored ice cream popsicles. Village residents stop at her store, buy a pink or purple or bean filled popsicle, not far from the boulevard that dissects the fast-disappearing Boeung Tompun lake.
Preserving Harmony Report October 2020: Research report: "PRESERVING HARMONY, OR PREVENTING JUSTICE? A study of local dispute resolution practices in cases of domestic and intimate partner violence in Cambodia
Profiles of Courage Profiles of Courage 30 years of Partnership - Looking Back To Move Forward By Heinrich Böll Stiftung Cambodia