Fluidos MR con diferentes concentraciones de partículas magnéticas: estabilidad

While language is one barrier to Khmer people’s ability to participate, strong gender divisions also have a major effect on Khmer communities’ ability to lift themselves out of poverty. Focus group discussions showed that Khmer men and women tended to segregate topics according to men’s and women’s

issues, and ascribed strong importance to the male role of head of the household and representative of the family. Both men and women believed that going to village meetings was the responsibility of the head of the household. Interestingly, while people believed this was how it ought to be, in reality women did attend many of these meetings in their husband’s place. In one of the focus groups, the head of the hamlet observed that the number of women at village meetings was in fact greater than the number of men who attended. His explanation for this was that women had more time than men and were therefore in a better position to leave the house. When looking at time dairies constructed with Khmer men and women, it became apparent that this could not be the true explanation. Women clearly had a great deal less leisure time and far longer working hours than men.²⁴ In the absence of a clear difference in available time, the obvious conclusion is that Khmer women prioritise their time differently because they attach a greater importance to attending public meetings. This was confirmed in one of the focus group discussions, when the women said they were interested in meetings because they could see the benefits to themselves and the ways attendance could “improve their lives”. In subsequent discussion, it emerged that one of these benefits was that “their opinions would be listened to”. On the other hand, they felt that women were not important decision-makers at a community level. While women often attended meetings, they did not participate in the same way as men. Women not only had difficulty in participating because of a perceived lack of knowledge, language skills and education, but also because taking an active role in public meetings runs counter to the popular moral image of how a woman should behave. In the words of a middle-aged Khmer man from Soc Trang: “The men are more active in the meetings. It’s because a man is stronger than a woman; he can speak more clearly and express himself better.” Women often mentioned

“being shy” as a reason to stay quiet in meetings.

24 This result is in accordance with World Bank research which shows that, in Vietnam, women generally have much longer working hours than men (WorldBank, 1999).

Although it was observed that many women attend meetings, women-only focus groups revealed that it is still not uncommon for men to restrict their wives’ participation in out-of-house activities, such as participation in the Women’s Union. The difficulties Khmer women experience in participating in meetings are significant, as heavily segregated gender roles also determine what topics men view as “men’s issues” or “women’s issues”. In one of the focus groups, which comprised Khmer men only, women’s health, family planning and sanitation were identified as “topics for women”. In the women’s focus groups, women agreed with this. As a middle-aged woman from Soc Trang province put it: “Men know more about farming; a woman only knows about housework.” In fact, women compare well to men in relation to being informed. In many focus group discussions, women mentioned watching news programmes on television and discussing news amongst themselves.

In spite of this, both men and women often expressed the perception that women do not know as much as men. The gender aspect of the participation problem is doubly significant, because Khmer people typically live in areas characterised by poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water and lack of access to health care, which contribute to higher rates of infant mortality and adult illness. As all of these concerns are culturally labelled as “women’s problems”, it is essential that women have the ability to both attend and understand meetings. In fact, the Mekong River Regional Poverty Assessment lists long-term illness as one of the most important reasons for households to fall into poverty (UNDP & AusAid, 2004).

Figure 24: Khmer woman washes dishes in river water (taken near Chau Doc, An Giang, on December 1^st 2005, included by permission of Luu Nam Phuong Quyen)

The focus group discussions show that Khmer people suffer from a combination of factors that effectively limit their ability to access essential sources of information and to make use of the main channel through which they can inform policy. Language, lack of confidence and segregated gender roles result in an inability to understand and participate in what goes on in village meetings. Better education would remove some, if not all, of these barriers, but the education system is not structured in a way that makes it likely that Khmer pupils will succeed. As a consequence, a lack of access to essential information may continue through the generations. However, when economic reform requires greater knowledge and flexibility, this lack of access to information becomes much more significant.