LGBT rights is human rights!
WE ARE #ASEANtoo!
LGBT rights is human rights!
BC GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO SET THE NEW LEADERSHIP FOR BETTER RECOGNITION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MSM AND TG PEOPLE IN ADDRESSING AND FACING CHALLENGES
Cambodia is one of the select countries projected to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, by 2015. For instance, data shows that the overall adult HIV prevalence is 0.7%, significantly decreased from 1.9% in 1997 and 90% of eligible people living with HIV receive treatment.
However, these gains remain fragile as long as pockets of high prevalence persist amongst the most-at-risk populations (MARPs), including the entertainment workers, injecting drug users (IDU), and in particular men who have sex with men (MSM). The prevalence amongst MSM is estimated at 4% in 2007 (4.5 times of the national prevalence). Discrimination and stigma has been one of the root causes that make MSM and Trans Gender (TG) people unable or unwilling to access health services. Besides the needs for effective prevention and treatment, this experience of stigma and discrimination points to the need to promote greater respect for their human rights (1).
The National MSM Network/ Bandanh Chaktomuk (BC), established in 2006, is a National Community Network for MSM and TGs in Cambodia, legitimately representing MSM and TG communities to advocate and promote participation in policies, strategy development, and programme implementation and monitoring in order to eliminate discrimination against the communities, and to improve access to reproductive and sexual health, HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services, livelihood, employment, legal services for each MSM and TG person.
The National Network of MSM and TG people/Bandanh Chaktomuk (BC) is organizing its third General Assembly on 23rd November 2012 in Phnom Penh. Five hundred MSM and TG members from ten selected provinces and partners are expected to attend the assembly. Besides electing the new leadership committee of the network, the General Assembly will review the progresses made and challenges faced in the last three years and discuss and identify the key priority actions to be considered in the Action Plan 2013 – 2014 to achieve network’s goals and objectives and goals. The Assembly is technically and financially supported by the National AIDS Authorities (NAA), Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Family Health International (FHI), Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) and UNESCO.
One of the most important agenda items of the General Assembly is the election of new Executive Committee. The BC Secretariat and Election Committee have organized a national registration campaign in ten provinces and municipalities to register community network membership and candidates for the Executive Committee, and orient them about the election process as well as the profile of the network. 35 Youth MSM and TG Volunteers supported the campaign. As a result of this exercise, 1205 MSM and TG people have registered to become official members of the network and nearly 100 of them have expressed their interests to be candidates for the new Executive Committee. Among the registered candidates, only seven will be elected by members during the General Assembly.
In addition to supporting the organization of the General Assembly, UNESCO, together with UNAIDS, UNDP and National AIDS Authority, provided technical and financial assistance to BC network for conducting the Institutional Capacity Assessment and in drafting of the Action Plan 2013 – 2014. In 2013, UNESCO will continue provide technical support in enhancing the capacities of the newly elected Executive Committee for improved governance, communications and advocacy, community engagement and resource mobilization.
(1) Men Who Have Sex with Men in Cambodia: HIV/AIDS Vulnerability, Stigma, and Discrimination, POLICY, 2004 and MSM Rights Is Human Rights, HACC, April 2008
Send suspects Tengokhluon son Rape 13-year-old girl Battambang court
Source CEN
Battambang: Female suspects Tengokhluon son (khtaey) police Sampov loun Detained build a case to court Battambang Court To legal action based on 17 September 2013 after receiving a complaint guardians accused the 13-year-old daughter Rape In Thai territory Since last July, decided to 10 times.
Detained The last time 9 and 30 Morning of September 16, 2013 in the village street flexible Angkor Sampov loun Battambang While suspects Returned from Thailand Inside the territory.
District police Sampov loun know that she suspects tengokhluon boy named chie keyboard 29 years old A resident in the village, the scene above. The girl suffered 13 years old.
Officials Specified Mother, girl victims Appeal since this past July by the accused chie keyboard pongrot 13-year-old daughter In Thai territory And the rape of a 13-year-old daughter Decided several After he found 13-year-old daughter With the suspects in the territory of Thailand And bring Cambodian territory.
Chie keyboard suspects confessed that really had sex with 13-year-old girl Decided 10 times In the territory of Thailand sure. Suspects that this is the 2nd and roubke pongrot the same Sex in the territory is a Women’s 1 There are more than 20 years old To rape. 2, rape is roubke using fingers Relief style (Stabaangael and employees) because roubke Just tengokhluon male.
Chin Seng said Currently, Build a case to force suspects Battambang court To legal action based on 17 September 2013. Vulnerable girls After the talent already chch Given to an organization in Battambang To help care And Vocational Training.
បញ្ជូនជនសង្ស័យស្រី តែងខ្លួនធ្វើប្រុសម្នាក់ រំលោភក្មេងស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ ទៅតុលាការបាត់ដំបង
បញ្ជូនជនសង្ស័យស្រី តែងខ្លួនធ្វើប្រុសម្នាក់ រំលោភក្មេងស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ ទៅតុលាការបាត់ដំបង
2 hours ago by Khmer-note.com 0
ប្រភព CEN
បាត់ដំបង: ជនសង្ស័យស្រី តែងខ្លួនធ្វើប្រុសម្នាក់ (ខ្ទើយ) ត្រូវប៉ូលិសសំពៅលូន ឃាត់ខ្លួនកសាងសំណុំរឿងបញ្ជូនទៅតុលាការ សាលាដំបូងខេត្តបាត់ដំបង ដើម្បីចាត់ការទៅតាមផ្លូវច្បាប់ នាថ្ងៃទី១៧ ខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០១៣ បន្ទាប់ពីទទួលបណ្ដឹងរបស់អាណាព្យាបាល ចោទថា នាំកូនស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំម្នាក់ ទៅរំលោភផ្លូវភេទ នៅក្នុងទឹកដីថៃ តាំងពីខែកក្កដា កន្លងមកនេះ បានសម្រេច ដល់ទៅ១០ដង។
ការឃាត់ខ្លួនជននេះ បានធ្វើឡើងកាលពីម៉ោង ៩និង៣០នាទី ព្រឹកថ្ងៃទី១៦ ខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០១៣ នៅភូមិថ្នល់បត់ ឃុំអង្គរបាន ស្រុកសំពៅលូន ខេត្តបាត់ដំបង ខណៈពេលជនសង្ស័យនេះ បានវិលត្រឡប់ពីប្រទេសថៃ ចូលមកខាងក្នុងទឹកដីខ្មែរវិញ។
មន្ត្រីប៉ូលិសស្រុកសំពៅលូន បានដឹងថា ជនសង្ស័យ ស្រីតែងខ្លួនធ្វើប្រុសរូបនេះ មានឈ្មោះ ជៀម សុឃីម អាយុ២៩ឆ្នាំ មានទីលំនៅក្នុងភូមិ-ឃុំកើតហេតុខាងលើ។ ចំណែកក្មេងស្រីរងគ្រោះ អាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ។
មន្ត្រីរូបនេះ បានបញ្ជាក់ថា ម្តាយក្មេងស្រីរងគ្រោះ បានប្ដឹងតាំងពីក្នុងខែកក្កដា កន្លងមកនេះ ដោយចោទឈ្មោះ ជៀម សុឃីម នាំពង្រត់កូនស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ ចូលទៅនៅក្នុងទឹកដីថៃ ហើយបានរំលោភសេពសន្ថវៈលើរូបកូនស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ បានសម្រេចជាច្រើនលើក ក្រោយពីរូបគាត់តាមទៅរកឃើញកូនស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ នៅជាមួយជនសង្ស័យក្នុងទឹកដីប្រទេសថៃ ហើយនាំមកទឹកដីកម្ពុជាវិញ។
ជនសង្ស័យឈ្មោះ ជៀម សុឃីម បានសារភាពថា ពិតជាបានរួមភេទជាមួយក្មេងស្រីអាយុ១៣ឆ្នាំ បានសម្រេចចំនួន១០ដង នៅក្នុងទឹកដីប្រទេសថៃ ប្រាកដមែន។ ជនសង្ស័យ បានបន្តថា នេះជាលើកទី២ហើយ ដែលរូបគេ បាននាំពង្រត់មនុស្សស្រីដូចគ្នា ទៅរួមភេទនៅក្នុងទឹកដីថៃ គឺលើកទី១ បាននាំនារីម្នាក់ មានអាយុច្រើនជាង២០ឆ្នាំ ទៅរំលោភផ្លូវភេទ។ ទាំង២ លើកនេះ គឺរូបគេ រំលោភដោយប្រើម្រាមដៃ និងប្រើក្បាច់តាមស្ទីលបរទេស (ស្ទាបអង្អែលនិងលិតគ្នា) ព្រោះរូបគេក៏ជាស្រី គ្រាន់តែតែងខ្លួនធ្វើប្រុសប៉ុណ្ណោះ។
លោក ឈិត សេង បានឲ្យដឹងថា បច្ចុប្បន្ននេះ កម្លាំងបានកសាងសំណុំរឿងបញ្ជូនជនសង្ស័យ ទៅតុលាការបាត់ដំបង ដើម្បីចាត់ការទៅតាមផ្លូវច្បាប់ នៅថ្ងៃទី១៧ ខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០១៣។ ចំណែកក្មេងស្រីរងគ្រោះ ក្រោយពីធ្វើកោសល្យវិច្ច័យរួចហើយ បានប្រគល់ឲ្យទៅអង្គការមួយនៅបាត់ដំបង ដើម្បីជួយថែរក្សា និងបណ្តុះបណ្តាលវិជ្ជាជីវៈ៕
Live your life is so beautitul
Keep strong to make sure… you are proud of being yourself…
Come to visit us! https://www.facebook.com/RoCKHMERLGBT2009
Pride closes with a Buddhist blessing 2012
Tue, 22 May 2012
At least two hundred people gathered at the Tuol Dombok Khpos pagoda in Phnom Penh last Sunday to bring the week-long Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride festivities to a close in a very Buddhist way.
Khann Sovan, head of Tuol Dombok Khpos pagoda, presided over a traditional blessing ceremony where he said that Buddhism has never conflicted with issues of sexuality or gender identity.
“Our Buddha taught us to love each other, to help each other and not to discriminate against each other,” Khann Sovan said.
The monastic gave a speech about the five precepts of the Dharma, or the Buddha’s teachings: not to kill, not to consume intoxicants, not to lie, not to steal, and not partake is sexual misconduct. He then sprayed attendees with holy water.
The morning blessing ceremony lasted about half an hour and was followed by a Community Day consisting of live entertainment and traditional games, as well as educational activities to raise awareness of HIV issues.
Srun Srorn, the facilitator of Rainbow Community Kampuchea (RoCK), one of the main organisers of Pride, said that he wanted lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to feel connected with their religion.
Because members of the LGBT community may feel separated from their religion, he said he hoped the ceremony would bring them closer to the humanitarian principles of Buddhism.
“Human rights already exist in Buddhism,” Srun Srorn said. “As we see, Buddhism is open to us. Almost every Buddhist pagoda in Phnom Penh was willing to host our Pride event on their campus. Through this ceremony, they want to show that we also have equal rights to religion like other people.”
At the same time, he also wanted to give a message to Cambodian people whose mind cannot accept homosexuality, or those who think that it is unnatural.
“I believe that nobody made us as homosexual or lesbian person. It came from our birth. So old people have to understand this and stop banning the homosexual or lesbian behaviour of their children any more.” he said.
This year’s Cambodia LGBT Pride launched on May 12 with a variety of activities such as art shows, film screenings, live performances, and workshops about gay rights.
Unlike Pride festivities in other parts of the world where revellers parade through public thoroughfares, though, Cambodia Pride was organised as a series of smaller affairs.
Srun Srorn said he felt Cambodian society was open to the LGBT community because none of the festivities were interrupted by the police.
“If we organised a huge crowd, we would be split up by police … We understood that issue in advance, so we organised smaller events but at many different places,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Roth Meas at roth.meas@phnompenhpost.com
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/pride-closes-buddhist-blessing
Being gay is not wrong
Fri, 16 November 2012
Many communities in the United States have embraced the lifestyles of gays and lesbians.
The Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival & Parade has become the third largest in the US, attracting more than 75,000 participants over the two-day celebration in California.
Maine, Maryland and Washington legalised gay marriage in last week’s election, becoming the first US states to do so through popular vote rather than court or legislative action.
Gay marriage is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia.
A rapid shift in public opinion is supporting their cause as more people grow used to the idea of gay marriage, but this is still a contested issue, as evangelical Christians and the Roman Catholic Church have vowed to fight against gay marriage.
A gay man or a lesbian woman is someone whose primary sexual preference is for a member of his or her own sex.
Much of the discrimination towards gay people is based on the myths people believe about them. For example: AIDS is a gay disease. AIDS is caused by a virus and viruses infect all kinds of people, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Another example: gays and lesbians are mentally ill.
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association stated that homosexuality was not a mental disorder, and in 1990, the World Health Organization declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Cambodian law states that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are entitled to all of the same rights as other individuals. Gay marriage is prohibited. The human rights law is tolerant of male homosexual behaviour provided it does not affect the traditional family structure.
There is pressure in Cambodian society to marry and have children, which adds to the difficulties gay men face in trying to hide their sexuality.
In Phnom Penh, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community has been more open and visible. Since 2003, the LGBT Pride Parade is a yearly event that celebrates gay pride.
Popular gay bars like Blue Chilli and Rainbow have attracted the LGBT community to engage socially and publicly. Another avenue is online, like Facebook, where the initial communication starts. But those from rural areas are often discriminated against, threatened and have their human rights violated.
A Cambodian Center for Human Rights’ Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) project aims to empower LGBT Cambodians by providing information and coordination to allow groups and individuals to network effectively, provide training for documenting instances of abuse occurring, and support in advocating for the recognition of the fact that LGBT people have the same human rights as everyone else.
I had lunch with a young man who told me his story about coming out as a gay Cambodian. He was disowned by his family and was forced to live on the streets and survive on his own.
Drifting away from the people he loved was scarier than the fact he was gay. But he endured, and now is educating others through his experience, and believes that the best way to eliminate homophobia is to dispel ignorance on sexuality.
We should look for the good in everyone we meet and respect their journey, as well as their sexual preference.
For more information, contact The Cambodian Center for Human Rights’ website.
The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom
The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.
Little support for LGBT: study
Wed, 1 December 2010
HENG Sreyleang*, a lesbian living in Battambang province, says she has no recourse to challenge her parents, who intend for her to marry a man.
“[How] is it that my parents can force me to get married without society or the authorities punishing them? I want to live with the person I love,” she said in a recent interview with the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.
She said she had nowhere to turn for help after her family intervened to end her relationship.
“They stopped me talking to women and my girlfriend’s family has stopped her from meeting me,” she said.
The current situation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual people in Cambodia, a new report from CCHR due to be released on December 10, finds that while discrimination based on sexual identity is widespread, the Kingdom can be especially intolerant of lesbianism.
“Lesbian and female-to-male transgender sexualities, generally hidden as lesbian relationships, are particularly incomprehensible to Cambodian society,” the report states. “Given the traditional gender roles, women have less ability to pursue such relationships than homosexual males, either privately or publicly.”
The report, which draws on more than 50 interviews, notes that although LGBT rights are implicitly protected by the Cambodian constitution, there is little political or social support.
“LGBT individuals face discrimination and abuse from not only their families, communities and employers but also from state institutions such as local authorities and police,” the report states. “Those that do report instances of abuse may be ignored or worse yet, face further abuse.”
Srorn Srun, a CCHR project coordinator, said legislative change could help improve the situation.
“If LGBT face problems and need support from police, no police will take actions because they don’t support LGBT. ”
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said yesterday that government policy was antidiscriminatory.
“People who have assumptions or behaviours against gays or lesbians, they can be prosecuted,” he said. “Everyone is subject to the law. We don’t want anyone to be abused by anyone.”
*Not real name
Shift in LGBT policy urged
Wed, 2 January 2013
The Cambodian government should do more to ensure its policies are not being misused to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, a report released by theCambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) on Monday says.
The report, based on interviews with about 300 LGBT individuals, their families, activists and local authorities and police, contends authorities tend to inappropriately target LGBT individuals when enforcing laws and policies created to maintain public order and combat sexual exploitation.
“LGBT people… are more vulnerable than many due to the fact that they often have no option but to congregate in dark and inconspicuous parts of towns, such as unlit parks, in an attempt to avoid the attention of their families and the authorities,” the report says.
“Due to pervasive discrimination and negative stereotyping, the authorities generally assume that such groups of LGBT people are sex workers, engaged in soliciting and prostitution, when often they are simply socialising and expressing themselves freely in as discreet a manner as they can.”
Several community members CCHR interviewed said the Village Commune Safety Policy and the 2008 Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, in particular, were often used to crack down on LGBT lovers.
In addition to reigning in these policy misapplications, the report urges the government to create legislation against hate crimes, cease to define marriage as being only between a man and a woman and amend legislation on equal rights in education, health and employment to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender.
Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, denied authorities were using anti-crime and public order laws and policies to discriminate against LGBT individuals.
“There are not LGBT rights violations in Cambodia, because our constitution already says that we must respect everyone’s rights,” she said, adding there was no need for further protections.
“Although we see them loving each other, we don’t arrest them,” she said. “For parents, I don’t think they’re happy to see children go that way, but we have no laws to ban them.”
The ideas from the report were from “Western countries that face problems with [LGBT rights] in their own countries,” she said.
“For us, it’s not a big problem, but [CCHR] is trying to make it one.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Justine Drennan atjustine.drennan@phnompenhpost.com
Chhay Channyda at channyda.chhay@phnompenhpost.com
Contact authors: Justine Drennan and Chhay Channyda
LBGT community to be respected: PM
Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Cambodians to be more receptive towards homosexuality in a speech delivered a day after the gay community celebrated Human Rights Day.
In response to same sex couples demanding equal rights during Cambodian celebrations of International Human Rights Day, Hun Sen called on the public to be more tolerant of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“They do not want to be this way, but they are [born] like that,” the premier said during a speech given at a land titling ceremony in Kep province.
Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, was heartened that the prime minister publicly acknowledged the problem of discrimination against the LGBT community.
“Any comment made by our leaders, particularly people who lead opinions of the public, is welcome. We are happy that he said it,” Virak told the Post.
He added that his rights group would continue to push for Hun Sen’s words to be put into action, noting that the government has to do more to end discrimination and open up opportunities to members of the LGBT community.
“His government and ruling party has enough seats and power to influence the outcome of policies,” he said.
Srun Srorn, a facilitator at Rainbow Community Kampuchea, said that while the comment might have been a political move, he also believed that Hun Sen personally supports the LGBT community now despite announcing he would disown his lesbian adopted daughter in 2007.
He also thought that the passing of the beloved King Father Norodom Sihanouk might have influenced Hun Sen.
The late king had endorsed same-sex marriages in 2004, although there is no law on same-sex marriages now in Cambodia.
Hun Sen caused controversy in 2007 when he told a graduation ceremony he was disappointed with his adopted daughter, who was a lesbian, while appealing to the crowds not to discriminate against the gays.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Ip at newsroom@phnompenhpost.com
With assistance from Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lbgt-community-be-respected-pm
សហគមន៍ឥន្ទធនូកម្ពុជា(RoCK) 