The Women’s Media Center of Cambodia is a non-government organization. Since 1995, WMC has been one of the key institutions in Cambodia working to change social attitudes by promoting gender equity and democracy.
Our vision is for women and men to have equal freedom and dignity to jointly develop our society. Our goals are:
- To empower women and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls
- To provide people in Cambodia access to accurate information
- To uphold democracy and promote public participation by raising awareness
Today, we are one of the few remaining independent media organizations in Cambodia, due to our focus on women’s issues and our ability to strategically navigate political issues.
Our Activities Drive Change
We work to empower women and promote change through our main activities:
- The Women’s Radio
- Video Production
- Daily News
- Podcasts, Digital and Social Media
- Fact Checking and Media Literacy Training for Accurate News
- Community Outreach and Training.
Every day we reach around two million Cambodians through FM radio, broadcasting in Phnom Penh and a number of provinces. We consistently rate in the top 3 radio stations in Cambodia. Radio remains an important information source for provincial and rural people with limited mobile phone coverage or internet access.
We have around one million followers who access our content on our social media channels that include TikTok, Telegram, YouTube and Facebook. We also stream our radio programs, video productions and podcasts on the WMC App and website.
The Issues We Address
Gender Equity and Violence Against Women and Girls
Cambodian women face many social, political and economic barriers that prevent them from fully realizing their potential and playing their part in Cambodia’s development.
Gender norms remain strongly fixed in Cambodian society, creating inequality between men and women and depriving women of their fundamental rights. Women of all ages continue to face significant disadvantage. Empowering girls and women to exercise their rights is critical to advancing equality, reducing poverty and advancing sustainable development.
In a culture with such unequal power relations between men and women family violence is often considered justifiable and is viewed as a family issue rather than a legal one. We work to raise awareness among men about their need to become community role models in preventing violence in their families and communities.
We strongly believe in the transformative role media can play in achieving gender equality in societies, by creating content that empowers women and breaks gender stereotypes. We use media to show women in leadership roles and as experts on a diverse range of topics.
Democratic Rights
Cambodian citizens find it increasingly difficult to access the independent and evidence-based information they need to form their opinions on issues that affect their lives and to participate in the democratic process.
Freedom of expression has been increasingly challenged in Cambodia. The vast majority of Cambodia’s media is controlled by the government or their business partners.
The number of independent media outlets has reduced to just a few, with WMC being one of them.
Despite the challenges for media and freedom of expression in Cambodia, it is important to reinforce citizens’ knowledge and understanding of how Cambodia’s governing structures function and how to more effectively participate.
We use media and on the ground training to increase community awareness of their rights and encourage their participation in our democracy.