Three Women’s Hearings, carried out by the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP) helped to address the on-going struggle for accountability for crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge, according to an article by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).

ICTJ Vice President, Paul Selis pointed out that ‘ECCC trials have taken a very long time to prosecute very few people. Important as the trials are, the citizens of Cambodia need and deserve more.’ ‘In order to meaningfully address address past atrocities’, he adds ‘Cambodia needs to broaden the scope of its accountability efforts, going beyond trials to include creative and substantial measures to acknowledge the truth of what happened and to memorialize it in a way that assists in ensuring non-recurrence.’

CDPs Women’s Hearings gave victims of those who suffered gender based violence during the Khmer Rouge conflict the chance to share their experiences in response to the limited prosecutions for these crimes. ‘Not only did these hearings empower and honor the survivors who testified, but by breaking the silence around sexual violence crimes they also contributed an important accurate record, public awareness, and community healing,” said Amrita Kapur, Senior Associate of ICTJ’s Gender Justice program.

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