Film Screening: Breaking the Silence Sexual Violence Under the Khmer Rouge
The Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice, in conjunction with Khmer Mekong Films and with the generous support of the British Embassy of Phnom Penh, produced “Breaking the Silence, Sexual Violence under the Khmer Rouge,” a film about sexual and gender based violence experienced during the Democratic Kampuchea regime and contemporary Cambodia. After decades of silence, growing numbers of Khmer Rouge survivors in Cambodia are challenging the stigma around sexual violence. They are speaking out about their experiences of forced marriage, rape and sexual abuse suffered under the regime. From courtrooms to classrooms, from Civil Society forums to family tables, survivors are revealing hidden dimensions to their suffering that continue to impact Cambodian society nearly 40 years after the Khmer Rouge collapsed.
From 1975 to 1979, the entire Cambodian population lived under a regime that sought to implement rapid socialist revolution through a ‘Great Leap Forward’ - by whatever means necessary. Between 1.5 and 2 million Cambodians died from execution, starvation, and illness. A hidden dimension of that suffering was sexual violence. An estimated quarter of a million women and men were forced into marriage. How many were raped or experienced other forms of sexual violence is unknown.
Join us for a screening of the film, followed by a brief discussion with the Handa Center’s Cambodia team involved in the production and dissemination of the film, Melanie Hyde and Christoph Sperfeldt. Note this event follows “An Assessment of Responses to Gender Based Violence in Conflict,” a panel discussion from 4:30-6:00pm.
This event follows a panel discussion, An Assessment of Responses to Gender Based Violence in Conflict, featuring Ms. Navi Pillay, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Dialogue with Sarah Chynoweth and Melanie Hyde from 4:30-6:00pm.
Melanie Hyde is an Australian lawyer with experience working on a range of programs supporting the prevention of and response to sexual and gender based violence, both within humanitarian and development settings. She is also the former Director of the WSD Handa Center’s Cambodia programs, where she coordinated the trial monitoring program at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and developed an international documentary and television series about sexual violence during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Christoph Sperfeldt is the Handa Center's Deputy Director for Southeast Asia. In this capacity, he has supported human rights and justice sector research and capacity-building efforts in Southeast Asia. Prior to this, Mr Sperfeldt was Senior Advisor with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Cambodia. Mr Sperfeldt is also a PhD candidate at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University.