Listening to Story: Narratives Shared by Female Khmer Rouge Survivors

Abstract

Accounts of conflict often ignore the plight of female survivors. In this paper, we explore the history of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge years focusing on the suffering of three females during these years along with their current outlook and support for education in their village. Situated against the history of the three specific time periods: the Khmer Republic Period, the Khmer Rouge Period, and the Vietnamese Period, the words of these women help us understand the personal toll behind numbers and facts. Reported using the Portraiture Approach with a feminist lens, their stories serve as a frame for understanding the female experience in current genocidal regions of the world.