Depicting atrocity: The experiences of women under the Khmer Rouge. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gill, Fiona
• Is Part Of: Women's studies international forum. Volume 87(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: Khmer Rouge -- Women -- Genocide -- Victims -- Perpetrators; Women's studies -- Periodicals; Feminism -- Periodicals; 305.4
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102500
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-5395

Abstract

Abstract: Analyses of women's experiences under the Khmer Rouge have been relatively limited. It is clear, however, that women experienced the regime in qualitatively different ways to men. This paper examines some of these experiences as depicted on the genocide memorial at Wat Samrong Knong in Battambang. The analysis reveals that women's experiences were the result of the interaction of Khmer Rouge ideology with existing Cambodian gender norms and expectations. This explains the depiction of women in multifaceted ways, as both victims and perpetrators of violence. It is this dual role which remains missing from analyses and which points to the need for more nuanced examinations of the regime.