Amarsanaa Darisuren, Deputy Programme Manager, UNIFEM CEDAW South East Asia

In recent years, issues of violence against women have increasingly received recognition by the governments in South East Asian region. This presentation will discuss the measures taken by the governments of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to eliminate violence against women. The presentation examines government responses to VAW around three main topics: 1) Institutional and Policy Frameworks; 2) Services to address VAW; 3) Advocacy, Education and Awareness campaigns. The presentation attempts to examine whether these measures are adequate to prevent, protect and fulfill women’s human rights? To what extent existing policies recognize VAW as a violation of women’s rights, enable women and marginalized communities to claim and exercise their rights? How these policies and laws have addressed the deeply rooted social and cultural practices that discriminate against women? The application of a rights based framework to the public policies is explored.