Rape against women and girls has noticeably increased in recent years. Girls aged between 5 and 18 years old are vulnerable to being raped by men. This reflects changes in social mores and abuse of our laws. What really concerns us is that even fathers, who should provide children with education and advice abut being good people, are also sometimes guilty of raping their own daughters. Women and girls feel they are living in a dangerous environment, frightened and scared as though there are tiger or crocodiles around them and they are likely to be wolfed down at anytime.
How can a girl protect herself from these brutal animals? Actually, it is difficult because those brutal animals have strong physiques and cunning stratagems. Of course, laws should protect them from abuse. The criminal law states that the perpetrator of rape will be both sentenced to prison and forced to pay civil compensation. Nevertheless, the law has not always been followed by law enforcers and it has even been enforced in contradiction with the proper procedure of the law.
There are many rape cases that have settled out of court. Perpetrators have been released and not punished in accordance with the law. The abusers have only paid small civil compensation to their female victim. Even if the complaints come within the court’s jurisdiction, those cases are usually solved with civil compensation as well. In such cases, the authorized officials (police and court officials) can gain lots of benefit from both perpetrators and victims.
Even if the court follows proper procedure and the rapist is punished with both imprisonment and payment of civil compensation, the women victim will be victimized again in cases where the rapist is unable to pay civil compensation. Here, the abuser is just made to suffer imprisonment for further short period.
In general, in all criminal procedures regarding rape, women continue to confront unequal and inequitable conditions. Therefore, legislative bodies should amend some articles with respect to civil compensation. In cases where the perpetrator is unable to pay the victim compensation, the rapist should be subjected to at least half again the term of imprisonment years of his existing punishment in order to ensure the victim’s benefit.
Source: Gender and Development for Cambodia (GAD/C)
Rape is the worst form of human degradation. It is cruel, demeaning, and evil. Those who perpetrate such an act should be jailed, whipped, and fined. While I am against capital punishment, I added “whipped” because there needs to be a ‘scar’ on the assailants, just as there is already a ‘scar’ on their victims.