This study examines the extent to which democratic devolution has opened space for women to engage in (local) politics. It investigates women’s representation in the commune councils; and women’s articulation and exercise of power as local politicians. The study finds that decentralisation reforms have opened a space for women to achieve a greater presence in local politics. However, women are often clustered into gender-stereotyped positions dealing with women’s affairs. The major impediment to deeper gender equality is the social norms upheld by both men and women, including within political parties.
This study uses qualitative data gathered in four provinces during in-depth interviews. The different key informants were: commune chiefs (all women), commune councillors (men and women) and heads of political parties in each commune, village chiefs (mostly men) and village committee members (mostly women).
The Cambodian government, through recent policies, has integrated gender as a crosscutting issue in many sectors and at different levels. Most of the female informants at commune and village level were forthright in expressing their understanding of rights issues and at times responded by demanding increased equality. Many of the interviewees said that without electoral decentralisation at commune level and strong support in terms of policy it would be difficult for women to have such opportunities. However, many policies remain difficult to implement locally due to the need for major efforts to break social norms, as well as the lack of financial support, which women possibly need more than men due to people’s higher expectations of them to deliver. Most importantly, political will to alter social norms is, at best, half-hearted.
Awareness of gender issues, as well as the acceptance of female leaders, has increased sharply since the inception of decentralisation reform in 2002. At least four forces have contributed to this heightened awareness: i) support from government institutions to a limited extent by political parties via the party list electoral system; ii) training and advocacy efforts by NGOs and civil society organisations; iii) economic and social dynamics; and iv) a changing popular discourse.
Much progress has been made in ten years of decentralisation implementation (and 20 years of democratisation attempts). Many informants, especially men, when asked about the critical role of social norms, stated that women are good at managing local committees because, they think, women are more patient and empathic when it comes to children, social and household affairs. On the one hand, then, the reform has opened a space for women to achieve a higher presence in local political fora; on the other, women are often clustered into a gender-stereotyped positions dealing with women’s affairs. Their performance is also evaluated through a stereotypical gender lens. Female leaders are not fully appreciated by their male counterparts, or in the commune council or within the political party. Often this is said to be because women are presumed to be weak in terms of dealing with security issues, and inhibited in their leadership by social and traditional norms.
