Publikation

In 2006, Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP) undertook the first ever research project focused on gender-based violence during the Khmer Rouge rule of April 1975 to January 1979. The project sought to reveal the truth about the prevalence of genderbased violence during the Khmer Rouge rule and, in doing so, uncovered a hidden part of Cambodian history – that rape and other sexual crimes occurred widely under the Khmer Rouge and that there are survivors of these crimes still alive today. Through this research project CDP worked with survivors and witnesses of sexual violence who wanted to reveal the truth about what had happened during Khmer Rouge rule. From this grew the idea to convene a truth-telling forum on sexual violence during the Khmer Rouge. True Voices of Women under the Khmer Rouge Regime was Cambodia’s first truth-telling forum focused on women’s experience of the Khmer Rouge and the first opportunity for women to publicly speak out about their experiences of sexual violence during this period. By documenting the Hearing through this report we hope that the experiences of those who testified at the Hearing are included in the historical account of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge and that the recommendations from the panellists are given due consideration.