Seven strong Khmer-Krom women across four countries came together and created history by sharing their stories, first hand experiences and hopes to empower and create a more gender equal world.

International Women Day (IWD) is a day recognized by the United Nations and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year, on March 5th, the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF), hosted the virtual event on Zoom to celebrate this important day.

Opening Remarks

The event was opened by Mrs. Nit Son, the first Khmer-Krom woman to hold a position as Women Director and has help lead the work of women at the United Nations.

“This is a wonderful opportunity and thank you for joining. Thank you for taking part in this work with our community of women. You are the bamboo shoots. As the elders, our health is not like before but you have energy so try your best.” – Mrs. Nith Son.

The second speaker was Ms. Tang Keopispi, the newly elected KKF Women President in Cambodia. 

“If we look at the history, a woman can do the work. If we give her value and worth as a woman and she is determined, she can do the work. There is no reason why she shouldn’t have the right or that she cannot do anything.”

Ms. Tang Keopispi

Next, Joshua Cooper, a human rights professor at the Hawaii Institute for Human Rights and KKF Advisor shared some of the previous work of the Khmer-Krom women at the United Nations, in particular with the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2007 in New York City and Geneva in 2015.

“What was the most exciting thing about the event that I will never forget was that all Khmer women from Philadelphia actually made lunch for the members. The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 members and 22 are women. They were enamored with the amazing cuisine but also culture and the dress. And really met and talked to them as equals about the issues facing Khmer-Krom women inside Vietnam.”

Joshua Cooper

The fourth panelist was 34 year old, Thach Thi Huynh Thon, an indigenous Khmer-Krom woman from Preah Trapeang (renamed Tra Vinh). 

“We are poor, we do not know about international women’s day or rights of a woman or a mother. We are busy trying to find means to survive in this state of poverty, ” she adds.

When asked what it was like to be part of this experience, she answered,

“I am very happy to participate, I never realized how much the rights of women are recognized and promoted.”

Thach Thi Huynh Thon, a Khmer-Krom woman living in Preah Trapeang Province, Vietnam.

An insight to the life of Cambodia’s Miss Universal 1st Runner Up

The story of Neth Son was similar to that of Thon, for she was born and raise in Kampuchea-Krom and felt first hand what it was live to there.

“When I was in Kampuchea-Krom, I wore a Khmer-Krom t-shirt, got questioned and intimidated.” With encouragement from her family, she moved to Cambodia to find a way to support herself without fear and intimidation. 

She also added, “I wanted to find a way to show my Khmer pride. I wanted to show that Khmer-Krom women are capable like all other women. As Khmer-Krom women we lack opportunities and have little education. They don’t have the opportunities because we live in Vietnam. I only learned level 2 Khmer language, so I don’t know my Khmer language very well.  I wanted the world to know that Khmer-Krom women are capable, are smart and brave like all other women.”

“It doesn’t matter where we live, we should give value to ourselves and show our true self. We should show our pride and preserve what makes us Khmer.”

Neth Son

The sixth panelist was Ms. Tran Bich Ngoc, a Khmer-Krom woman forced to flee to Thailand after being questioned and intimidated by Vietnamese authorities for participating in a June 4th event in Thailand.

“Living in Thailand as a Khmer-Krom refugee is hard because there are little to no job opportunities here. It is hard to describe,”  says Ngoc, her voice breaking up. 

The Work of Khmer-Krom Women in the United States

The seventh panelist was Ms. Priscilla Kim Ong, a Khmer-Krom student at the University of San Francisco born and raised in the United States.

“I am grateful to be hosting this event with KKF, so that all of you, the Khmer-Krom women who are unafraid and understand the value of speaking up about your experiences and your stories can be uplifted,” says, Priscilla. 

And then it was my turn.

As a KKF Youth Director, I started by acknowledging the courage and bravery of our participants, in particular Ms. Thon, for choosing faith over fear and for showing up. She was the first KK woman from Kampuchea-Krom to join this event. 

Feeling honored and inspired, I shared what being a Khmer-Krom woman is like and opportunities we have aboard in helping to advocate for their voices. See my message on IWD day in Khmer & English.

“By being here and doing this work, we are creating a new story for our women. And to build that story we must equip her with the right tools such as educating her on her rights as a woman and a human being. Valuing her voice and inviting her to our table as an equal partner. ”

Sothy Kien

Final Words

It was an incredible and inspiring event.  Not only did we create history in bringing Khmer-Krom women together, we also created a safe and inclusive space for them to be seen and heard. Through our stories and struggles, we gave each hope and inspiration to continue the important work of women in advocating for our own voices and worth not only within ourselves, our homes but also our communities. 

You can watch the full Zoom Broadcast here  and my speech @58.16 mins into the Zoom event. Please note: Translation may not be 100% accurate but I tried :).