hile much international discourse centers on women’s equality and youth engagement, girls from minority communities are often excluded from global efforts. In Cambodia, girls from ethnic groups outside of the Khmer mainstream face barriers–both in mainstream society as well as within their own communities–to pursue their dreams. Many minority girls are not even able to begin to dream.
I know all too well the real-life dimensions of the “triple marginalization” (age, gender, minority status) of being a minority girl. Growing up with the expectation of both mainstream society and our own minority communities to act as a “proper woman,” we are often tasked with taking care of the household and staying quiet even when we are being treated unequally. Cultural norms have a strong influence on our lives, such as how we think of ourselves, how people see us, and how it affects our goals.
I used to think this was just the life of girls in my own community–the ethnic Cham minority in Cambodia that practices Islam, speaks their own language, and practices their own form of culture that differs greatly from the mainstream Khmer majority. Four years ago, however, I took the lead in an initiative to explore the lives of minority girls across Cambodia. “Making the Space” was a study, an experiential journey, that became a new alliance of minority girls and young women in the country.
Minority girls are either being told to get married at a young age or to go to work to support their families. Unfortunately, this cultural norm is a hidden barrier for minority girls to achieve their academic and professional pursuits in life.
“My family and neighbors told me to quit school because they think that there is no point studying and I should just go to work in the factory instead,” said a 17-year-old Cham Muslim in one of our research conversations. That comment hit me hard. I grew up with the same comments when I moved from my village to the capital city of Phnom Penh to start my first year at university. Like me, the girl who was quoted also overcame community pressure to graduate high school.
Through the study with girls from four minority communities including Indigenous, ethnic Vietnamese, Muslim, and Khmer Krom, we found that minority girls often live in poverty, face various kinds of oppression, experience discrimination from others, and lack prospects for higher education. Such barriers often leave them out of reach of the same opportunities available to the mainstream population.
SDG 4’s lofty goal of freeing primary and secondary education for all may be ambitious and noble, but it does not fully take into account minority populations. Minority girls often face language barriers, coming from families that have raised them in a language that is not taught in public schools. Additionally, there is often pressure for them to work and contribute to their family’s income instead of attending school. For those lucky enough to have more opportunities, they are frequently discriminated against by other students and teachers for attributes such as their accent, clothes, and different cultural backgrounds from the mainstream. Therefore, SDG 4 needs to put more focus on how to make schooling truly accessible for all and respond to the real barriers that minority girls are facing in being admitted into and attending school.
Voices of minority girls remain unheard, and they are frequently left out of policymaking. With an onslaught of funding and initiatives to promote gender equality in developing countries, where do minority girls fit? They are sometimes talked about–but rarely talked with. Given that women are underrepresented in most decision-making, how does that justify inclusiveness in the scope of development? Being young, female, and from a minority group puts us in a situation that often is not fully understood by even the most seasoned gender advocates.
While some institutions are starting to focus on inclusiveness, the question will remain whether our challenges are understood and involved in the design process. We cannot achieve the quality we want in education and employment if we continue to be a beneficiary instead of a co-creator. Quality education is an ideal for minority girls to overcome oppression and unemployment. We need to feel safe and comfortable at work and in schools regardless of our identity. Indeed, inclusiveness does not have to start with “women, minorities, and a person with disability are encouraged to apply” at the beginning of educational ads or job announcements. We can include someone without making them feel less than anyone in the room.
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Left Out but Ready to Engage, Minority Girls in Cambodia
Image via Adobe Photostock.
March 13, 2023
The voices of minority girls remain unheard and unrecognized, often even among the most seasoned gender advocates. This means the specific challenges of minority girls are unrecognized when designing inclusiveness for institituions, writes Le Sen, a member of Cambodia's minority Cham ethnic group.
W
hile much international discourse centers on women’s equality and youth engagement, girls from minority communities are often excluded from global efforts. In Cambodia, girls from ethnic groups outside of the Khmer mainstream face barriers–both in mainstream society as well as within their own communities–to pursue their dreams. Many minority girls are not even able to begin to dream.
I know all too well the real-life dimensions of the “triple marginalization” (age, gender, minority status) of being a minority girl. Growing up with the expectation of both mainstream society and our own minority communities to act as a “proper woman,” we are often tasked with taking care of the household and staying quiet even when we are being treated unequally. Cultural norms have a strong influence on our lives, such as how we think of ourselves, how people see us, and how it affects our goals.
I used to think this was just the life of girls in my own community–the ethnic Cham minority in Cambodia that practices Islam, speaks their own language, and practices their own form of culture that differs greatly from the mainstream Khmer majority. Four years ago, however, I took the lead in an initiative to explore the lives of minority girls across Cambodia. “Making the Space” was a study, an experiential journey, that became a new alliance of minority girls and young women in the country.
Minority girls are either being told to get married at a young age or to go to work to support their families. Unfortunately, this cultural norm is a hidden barrier for minority girls to achieve their academic and professional pursuits in life.
“My family and neighbors told me to quit school because they think that there is no point studying and I should just go to work in the factory instead,” said a 17-year-old Cham Muslim in one of our research conversations. That comment hit me hard. I grew up with the same comments when I moved from my village to the capital city of Phnom Penh to start my first year at university. Like me, the girl who was quoted also overcame community pressure to graduate high school.
Through the study with girls from four minority communities including Indigenous, ethnic Vietnamese, Muslim, and Khmer Krom, we found that minority girls often live in poverty, face various kinds of oppression, experience discrimination from others, and lack prospects for higher education. Such barriers often leave them out of reach of the same opportunities available to the mainstream population.
SDG 4’s lofty goal of freeing primary and secondary education for all may be ambitious and noble, but it does not fully take into account minority populations. Minority girls often face language barriers, coming from families that have raised them in a language that is not taught in public schools. Additionally, there is often pressure for them to work and contribute to their family’s income instead of attending school. For those lucky enough to have more opportunities, they are frequently discriminated against by other students and teachers for attributes such as their accent, clothes, and different cultural backgrounds from the mainstream. Therefore, SDG 4 needs to put more focus on how to make schooling truly accessible for all and respond to the real barriers that minority girls are facing in being admitted into and attending school.
Voices of minority girls remain unheard, and they are frequently left out of policymaking. With an onslaught of funding and initiatives to promote gender equality in developing countries, where do minority girls fit? They are sometimes talked about–but rarely talked with. Given that women are underrepresented in most decision-making, how does that justify inclusiveness in the scope of development? Being young, female, and from a minority group puts us in a situation that often is not fully understood by even the most seasoned gender advocates.
While some institutions are starting to focus on inclusiveness, the question will remain whether our challenges are understood and involved in the design process. We cannot achieve the quality we want in education and employment if we continue to be a beneficiary instead of a co-creator. Quality education is an ideal for minority girls to overcome oppression and unemployment. We need to feel safe and comfortable at work and in schools regardless of our identity. Indeed, inclusiveness does not have to start with “women, minorities, and a person with disability are encouraged to apply” at the beginning of educational ads or job announcements. We can include someone without making them feel less than anyone in the room.
