← Gender and Women's Issues

Owning the Space: Voices from Minority Women/Girls

Completed Gender and Women's Issues

About this project

This initiative focused on strengthening the voice, leadership, confidence, and collective agency of minority women and girls across Cambodia through feminist participatory action research, community organizing, and advocacy. Working with Cham, Indigenous, Khmer Krom, ethnic Vietnamese, and stateless communities across multiple provinces, the initiative combined evidence-based research, Gender Cafés, leadership development, community dialogue, creative advocacy, and movement-building approaches to address gender inequality, discrimination, gender-based violence, legal identity challenges, and exclusion from public participation. Using Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), minority women and girls were directly involved as community researchers, facilitators, organizers, and advocates throughout the project process. The initiative created safe spaces for women and girls to discuss sensitive issues, build solidarity across communities, and strengthen confidence to engage with local authorities, UN agencies, embassies, ministries, and international advocacy spaces. Activities including Gender Cafés, Forum Theatre, exposure visits, community initiatives, public forums, and regional advocacy opportunities supported participants to challenge harmful gender norms and amplify their voices at grassroots, national, and international levels. The initiative also strengthened intersectional feminist movement-building among minority communities by fostering connections between women from different ethnic, religious, and social backgrounds. Through storytelling, participatory research, leadership development, and community-led action, the project contributed to stronger grassroots organizing, greater awareness of minority women's rights, and expanded advocacy on gender equality, statelessness, minority rights, and inclusive participation in Cambodia.

Results

  • Conducted Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) across five provinces with minority women and girls from Cham, Indigenous, Khmer Krom, ethnic Vietnamese, and stateless communities.
  • Trained community researchers and facilitators on feminism, participatory research, leadership, emotional first aid, and advocacy approaches.
  • Established and strengthened Girl Circles and Gender Café spaces supporting dialogue, solidarity, peer support, and leadership development among minority women and girls.
  • Facilitated community dialogues, public forums, and advocacy events engaging local authorities, embassies, UN agencies, ministries, and civil society organizations.
  • Introduced Forum Theatre as a creative advocacy and awareness-raising tool within minority communities.
  • Supported community-led change initiatives designed and implemented by minority women within their own communities.
  • Organized exposure visits and cross-community learning activities to strengthen solidarity and reduce stereotypes between minority groups.
  • Amplified minority women's voices through engagement with national and international advocacy platforms including ASEAN People's Forum (APF), AWID Forum, Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions, and broader feminist networks.
  • Strengthened grassroots feminist leadership and advocacy capacity among minority women and girls, with participants increasingly leading dialogues, campaigns, and public engagement activities.
  • Increased public awareness and stakeholder engagement on issues including gender-based violence, legal identity, statelessness, minority rights, gender equality, and women's leadership.
  • "That's my child! So, What?"