Phnom Penh: The national consultation of the representatives of churches from different provinces in Cambodia paved the way for initiating networks and coalitions of women in church and society at the grassroots to overcome violence and build peace with justice.
The May 10-12 consultation with participants from grassroots congregations in Cambodia was held at the headquarter of the Kampuchea Christian Council (KCC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
About 40 people from various provinces in Cambodia attended the consultation organized by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in cooperation with the KCC as part of Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence.
“Asia has a rich tradition and heritage of communities living together in peace. Traditional models of peace building existed in many Asian communities and those were effective models of conflict transformation. However, Asian communities need more concerted efforts to overcome violence and build harmonious societies where peace with justice would prevail,” said Reverend Mathews George Chunakara, CCA general secretary at the opening session of the consultation.
The church leaders emphasized the significance of mobilizing the synergies of women and men, both within and outside of the church, to cooperate and join hands with people of all faiths to combat violence against women.
The Biblical-Theological Reflections and the re-reading of the Bible from the perspectives of women’s concerns helped in stimulating the participants to reflect on the Scriptures from their own local contexts and developing new hermeneutical understanding.
Sotheavy Srey, a Cambodia peace activist and a member of CCA’s program committee, said his country has an overall literacy rate of 74 percent. “However, women and girl-children in many parts of the country still undergo social discrimination, economic injustice, and lack of equal opportunities to partake in social and public life.”
Violence, he added, not only affects the physical and psychological well-being of Cambodian women but also destroys the social fabric of the community in particular and of society at large.