Facts and Figures


“When they arrived at the execution site in the forest, they started to rape the women and beat them to death with axes and finally they cut their throats. The pretty women were raped by them as they wished. Some women were raped by three to four men before they were killed. She could clearly see everything that happened because it was full moon. They started to kill and rape the women from the time the moon was rising at sunset until the moon was fully up in the middle of the sky. Then it was her turn. She was the last person among all who was standing and waiting for her turn until her whole body was numb because she did not know what to do.” (Excerpt from account of rape survivor Net Savoen, published in The Mystery of Sexual Violence under the Khmer Rouge Regime, CDP, 2011)

Mass rape before execution was one form of GBV that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime. Other types include forced marriage, sexual mutilation and humiliation. Until today, very limited knowledge is available about any of these types with the exception of perhaps forced marriages because of the magnitude of the latter. The separate sections will give you more detailed information on the two most commonly reported forms:

Rape during Khmer Rouge

Forced Marriage

Other forms of SGBV were also common during the war, in particular genital mutilation and forced nudity as an example of sexual humiliation.  Forced nudity was reported to be common particularly in prisons or detention centers, but also happened in communes, where the commune chiefs would sometimes force female villagers to undress for them. This type of violence was mainly targeted at women.