As a global issue, gender problems exist not only in developing nations, but also in highly developed countries such as western nations. A Southeast Asian developing country, Cambodia, deeply rooted in restrictive and hierarchical culture, is rife with gender issues. Since the two– decade–long civil war ended, the government has been trying to develop the country in all fields, but it has paid little attention to mounting gender problems in the society. Today, gender inequality, simply described as the unfair and inequitable treatment between men and women, is seen in many aspects of Cambodian society, for example education and health care, social status, and political power and decision making.
Gender issues in education
It is a fact that in Cambodia women outnumber men; however, the illiteracy rate of women is higher than that of men; the school enrollment rate of female students is lower than that of male students. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, 71% of women compared to 50% of men are functionally illiterate. Only 12% of women over the age of 25 have more than a primary level of education. Although school enrolment is increasing for girls (an increase of 3% between 1998 and 2002), most do not complete basic education, and the gender gap grows greater at the upper secondary level.
There are many reasons behind the wide gap between males and females in terms of access to education. First, it is the traditionally–based parental notion (stereotype) towards sons and daughters. Customarily, parents consider boys more important than girls in the way that boys can go out to work, while girls have to stay at home and take charge of the household chores. Also, girls, after getting married, are expected to be fed by their husbands so they do not need to do any job. Thus, the majority of parents find it pointless to let their daughters get high education. In the old days, it was also believed that daughters would become very stubborn if they were educated. Moreover, they would know how to write the love letters to men, so in order to prevent disgrace in the family, the girls should not be sent to school. In contrast, the boys are usually the breadwinners or the head of the family in the future; thus getting more knowledge would gain good reputation for their family. As a result, in poor families, if they can afford for only one child to go to school, then it will be the boy who gets the opportunity. Another factor is that girls are needed in the house or at the fields. Most Cambodian families, around 80%, are farmers, so they need a lot of workforce or labor force to assist in the fields because Cambodian farmers are still applying the old traditional ways of farming. Therefore, the girls should stay at home to cook or to work in the fields rather than go to school. In Cambodia, 65% of agricultural labor and 75% of fishery production are in the hands of women, as reported by NGO Forum on Cambodia. Alike, some parents would think that formal education is not that crucial; they would likely let their daughters to learn some skills or go to the city to working as