International Women's Day 2021
Published on 9 March 2021
This March 8, garment workers, teachers, laborers and farmers from Phnom Penh and five provinces gathered together across Cambodia to celebrate International Women’s Day. Taking care to maintain social distancing measures, check temperatures and wear masks to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, these communities came together to hold local forums and share their experience with the struggles facing women from grassroots communities still fighting to protect their land and their livelihoods.
In Phnom Penh, scores of participants joined in a celebration centered around the theme of “True Democracy Leads to a System of Social Protection and Justice for Women and All”. Accompanied by traditional musicians, a number of union leaders spoke about the challenges facing women in their workforces as well as the broader fight against domestic violence, rising household debt, the ongoing harassment of activists by authorities and the urgent need for social security programs in response to the pandemic.
Not all of these celebrations were allowed to proceed in peace. At least one community faced arbitrary restrictions on the number of participants. Despite the shadow of Cambodia’s latest community outbreak of COVID-19, though, women and the communities who support them continued to demonstrate their commitment to promoting justice, dignity and equality between men and women.
