Protesting Boeung Kak women divorce their husband ...

Protesting Boeung Kak women divorce their husband so that they will not be affected by their protest [-Oppresion paroxysm?]

09 May 2012
By Sambath
Thmey Thmey news
Translated from Khmer by Hing Hoang

Phnom Penh – A strange thing is taking place among protesters from Boeung Kak Lake: women who are married to soldiers or civil servants saw their husbands being called in to receive warnings, the men are told to keep their wives out of protests. In order to resolve this problem, the women claimed that they had decided to officially divorce their husbands so that the latter would not be affected in their work by their wives’ protest.

Tep Vanny, an ardent protester from Boeung Kak, said today that her husband who is a soldier was called in by his unit and received a warning not to let his wife protest. Such warning brings concerns to Tep Vanny who is worried that her husband may lose his job. Similarly, Tol Sreypov whose husband works for Electricity of Cambodia (EdC) in Phnom Penh was also called in by his department and he received warning as well. Tol Sreypov said that she is looking for help from a lawyer so that she may get divorced from her husband and so that her protest actions will not affect her husband’s work. A number of Boeung Kak Lake women whose husbands are civil servants also face the same problem. These women claimed that their husbands play an important role in raising their children, should their husbands lose their jobs, these women will face a major problem. Therefore to resolve this problem, all that they can do is to divorce their husband so that their protests will not affect their husbands’ jobs.