Lay and institutional knowledges of domestic violence law: Towards active citizenship in rural and urban Cambodia

Brickell, Katherine Ann (2023). Lay and institutional knowledges of domestic violence law: Towards active citizenship in rural and urban Cambodia. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851464

Domestic violence (DV) is a one of the starkest collective failures of the international community in the 21st century. Although a growing number of laws have been passed to protect women, governments from around the world have struggled to convert promises into prevention.
This timely study concentrates on the 2005 'Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of the Victims' in Cambodia.
The research examines why investments are faltering, and how these insights could shape the strategies adopted by programme and policy-makers. Conducted in two provinces, the research uses a quantitative survey of rural and urban households to establish levels of understanding of the 2005 Law and see what associations can be made to different individual, community and societal factors. It also involves film-making with local communities and harnesses interviews with key individuals to uncover the range of knowledge and experiences surrounding DV (law).
The study brings together Dr Katherine Brickell at Royal Holloway, University of London; Dr Bunnak Poch at Western University, Phnom Penh; and partner NGO, Gender and Development/Cambodia.

Data description (abstract)

Mixed method data collection on experiences of domestic violence and its potential for redress through law in Cambodia. Specifically, the collection includes information on quantitative household questionnaires; interviews; and participatory video workshops held in rural and urban case study communities in two provinces. The research was carried out to understand the situated beliefs and experiences of domestic violence victims, legal professionals, NGO workers, police officers and other authority leaders who have a stake in domestic violence prevention and reduction.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Brickell Katherine Ann	Royal Holloway University of London

Sponsors:

ESRC

Grant reference:

ES/I033475/1

Topic classification:

Law, crime and legal systems
Health
Society and culture

Keywords:

video cameras, surveys, interviews, gender, violence, Cambodia, customary law, family law, citizenship, domestic violence, rural areas, urban areas, norms, human rights

Project title:

Lay and Institutional Knowledges of Domestic Violence Law: Towards Active Citizenship in Rural and Urban Cambodia

Grant holders:

Katherine Ann Brickell, Bunnak Poch

Project dates:

From	To
20 January 2012	19 January 2015

Date published:

18 Dec 2015 12:05

Last modified:

14 Mar 2023 12:52

Coverage and Methodology

Collection period:

Date from:	Date to:
20 January 2012	31 March 2014

Geographical area:

Siem Reap and Pursat Provinces

Country:

Cambodia

Spatial unit:

No Spatial Unit

Data collection method:

Quantitative household survey: The quantitative household survey was conducted in four districts (two rural and two urban) in Pursat and Siem Reap Provinces. Pursat was purposively chosen because project partner Gender and Development/Cambodia (GAD/C) operates there and it had high occurrence levels of domestic violence. Siem Reap was selected because the project’s Principal Investigator (Dr Katherine Brickell) had conducted research on domestic violence in the province previously (with the opportunity for longitudinal data noted). A total of 1,275 respondents were surveyed. The design used for selecting respondents was based on a multistage stratified sampling technique, with the probability proportional to size (PPS) method for selecting villages and the systematic sampling technique for selecting households. Once the districts were identified and selected, a list of communes was generated. Two communes were then randomly selected from each district. Next, a list of villages with the number of households taken from the 2008 General Population Census data was compiled separately for each selected commune. PPS was used to select five villages for each commune, resulting in a total of 40 villages selected for the study. The next step was to select households and respondents for interview. Information about the number of villages was taken from 2008 Census data and was used as the basis to calculate the sampling interval for selecting households. A random start was used from the village boundary. After selecting a household, two adults were targeted asked for interview. While primary interviewees included the household head and his/her spouse, in circumstances when one primary respondent was absent or in non-spousal households, another adult living in the selected household could be selected who was a different sex (it did not matter if they were of the same generation). A bespoke household survey was developed for the study and tested in a pilot study prior to the substantive research. Interviews were held face-to-face and conducted by 8 trained interviewers and one field supervisor. Stata has been used for data analysis.

Participatory video (PV) research: Four PV workshops were held in total (divided equally between the two provinces in 4 selected districts). The workshops were 3-days long each in total and were held with lay men and women to understand community-level perspectives on domestic violence (ordinarily considered a 'private' issue in Cambodian society).

Lay and stakeholder interviews: Divided equally across the same districts as the PV research, qualitative data was collected from forty interviews with female domestic violence victims; forty with male and female householders; and a final forty with stakeholders who have an occupational investment in domestic violence alleviation (this included legal professionals, NGO and health workers, police officers, religious figures, and provincial, district, commune and village-level authorities). The research was conducted by two research assistants (one female and one male given ethical considerations). They were provided with information on NGOs and other services which were available to domestic violence victims should they request this information.

Phnom Penh-based institutional stakeholders: At the end of the research period, ten interviews were held with high-level NGO advocates and government representatives.

Observation unit:

Household, Individual

Kind of data:

Audio, Numeric, Text, Video

Type of data:

Other surveys, Qualitative and mixed methods data

Resource language:

Khmer originally but transcribed and translated into English

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

Information all primary data. Quantitative data quality assessment: Three techniques were used to assure data quality of the survey. One was in-the-field quality control randomly checked by the Co-Investigator and thoroughly by the field supervisor. Another was self-check and peer-check performed by the interviewers themselves and by their peer interviewers (by exchanging questionnaires for error checking) at the end of each day. Once the data from the field was completely checked, a doubled entry method was used to enter data to assure a proper transfer of data from the surveys to the electronic files. All errors, wild codes, and inconsistencies were fixed during this process. The quantitative data is entirely anonymised (except from the two Provinces named). Participatory videos: The community members themselves consented to their videos being made publically available - including on the internet (the only video with English sub-titles is provided under 'related resources'). Interview data: A pilot period was led in Pursat Province by the PI (after initial training in Phnom Penh) to ensure the opportunity for initial evaluation and improvements to be made before the substantive research period. The two research assistants recorded their interviews (10+) during this time. These were then transcribed and translated from Khmer into English for the PI to read through in detail. Individual meetings were held with the two RAs before substantive fieldwork to (a) provide in-depth feedback on their pilot interviews based on their transcripts and in-the-field monitoring, and (b) to discuss/respond to the challenges and sensitivities they encountered. The recorded voice files and corresponding transcripts are assigned a code (for example PSRF1 = Pursat rural female interview number 1). Real community and individual peoples' names are not used to label the files and in publications replacement names are given to ensure anonymity both of the community and people involved (verbatim excerpts used in publications do not include this type of information and other measures have been taken, for example providing only generic job areas for participants, especially stakeholders, to avoid identification). The transcripts themselves however (with the PI) still contain full information communicated in the interviews. The RA's do not have access to/copies of either the voice files or transcriptions. The translators/transcribers agreed to strict confidentiality arrangements. Consent form: Consent forms were used - one for the survey and interview research, the other for the participatory video workshops (see file uploads)

Rights owners:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Brickell Katherine Ann	Royal Holloway University of London

Contact:

Name	Email	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Brickell, Katherine Ann	katherine.brickell@kcl.ac.uk	King’s College London	Unspecified

Notes on access:

The Data Collection only consists of metadata and documentation as the data could not be archived due to legal, ethical or commercial constraints. For further information, please contact the contact person for this data collection.

Publisher:

UK Data Archive

Last modified:

14 Mar 2023 12:52