Cambodian Prime Minister blames women’s behaviour online for sexual violence

At the Cambodian National Council for Women, Cambodian Prime minister Hun Sen, accused women, their online behaviour, and the way they ‘dress on Facebook’ as a reason for sexual violence towards women. Sen ordered government authorities to ‘find those women based on their online activities’ and bring them to police station for ‘educational purposes’. The media reports that a video has been published showing a woman at the police station ‘apologising for wearing clothes which disgraces Khmer traditions’. The Amnesty International’s South East Asia Regional Director, Nicholas Bequelin, warned about the victim blaming due to women’s choice of clothes on Facebook. Bequelin called upon Facebook to dismiss this discriminatory request to block these women’s profiles. This is a serious example of the state’s surveillance apparatus and the weaponization of the Internet.