Walk Fast, Laugh out Loud, and Don’t “Serve” Husbands, Cambodian Vlogger Tells Women

A vlogger in Cambodia is stepping up against domestic abuse and violence against women: using her voice and her popular vlog “A Dose of Cath”, Catherine Harry tackles gender taboos that challenge the conservative nation.

Harry publishes the weekly videos from her home in Phnom Penh, discussing taboo topics such as sex and menstruation to fight the so-called “culture” of policing women and their bodies. “Culture is not static,” she explains. “Like technology, it changes all the time.”

Her videos promote the movement against the oppressive Chbap Srey code of conduct, which instructs women to “serve” husbands, walk slowly, laugh quietly, and never discuss family problems outside the family.

The code was removed from the primary school curriculum in 2007, but parts of it are still taught in the education system. Just last year, the United Nations has called for the code to be entirely banned from schools, stating it as a “root cause of the disadvantaged position of women.”