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. 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.

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.