A Cambodian woman has been provisionally charged with disseminating pornography after defying a police crackdown on women who wear skimpy clothing while selling goods on Facebook.
Ven Rachna was on Wednesday morning arrested and released hours later after filming an apology and posting it to Facebook, while in police custody, for dressing in a way that “disgraces Khmer traditions” and “affects the honor of Cambodian women.”
Rachna was rearrested in the afternoon after she posted a photograph of herself in her underwear soon after being released, police said.
Charges of producing and distributing pornography carry prison terms of up to one year.
“When we educate them and they still do not listen, we will implement the law,” Cambodian National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Selling clothing and beauty products via Facebook livestreams is a rising trend in Cambodia, a conservative country where many expect women to be submissive and quiet, a legacy of Chab Srey, an oppressive code of conduct for women.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday called for authorities to track down and educate women who wore revealing clothing in livestreams, which he said disgraced Cambodia’s culture and contributed to sexual harassment and violence against women.
Amnesty International said that 39-year-old Rachna was “coerced” to sign a confession and film the apology, in which she promised to cover up.
It criticized the prime minister’s comments on sexual violence as “victim blaming.”
“She agreed to stop, but did she really agree on her own free will?” asked Ros Sopheap, head of the charity Gender and Development for Cambodia.
“The message from the government here is that there is no respect for women’s rights or even the law,” she said. “This is not about pornography. It’s about instilling fear.”
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