Cambodia’s cycle of abuse
Childhood trauma remains stubbornly high in Cambodia, leading to perpetration and experience of violence against women, which in turn leads to further maltreatment of children, completing a cycle of abuse, a new UN-supported study suggests. The study – supported by UN Women in Cambodia and set to be published in the medical journal the Lancet next month – found that more than four in five Cambodian men and women have experienced some form of childhood trauma, which includes emotional, physical and sexual abuse. For men, childhood trauma was found to be linked to violence against their partners later in life, including physical, sexual or emotional violence. Similarly, among women, researchers found an association between experiencing childhood trauma and experiencing violence by their partners in adulthood.
