AUPP is proud of the achievement of adjunct faculty member Dr. Theresa de Langis, lead author of a recently published report entitled “Like ghost changes body” – a Study on the Impact of Forced Marriage during the Khmer Rouge.”
Co-authored by Judith Strasser, Thida Kim, and Sopheap Taing, the report is the first of two published by the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization documenting and analyzing the effects forced marriages on the lives of modern Cambodians. The full report can be downloaded from the TPO website.
The report uses the experiences of 106 of the civil parties to Case 002 in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia of forced marriages which, according to the report, “eliminated choice, were without consent, and took place within a context of severe coercion.”
“The general perception is that forced marriages and enforced conjugal relations were not qualitatively different from traditionally arranged marriages, and therefore should not be prioritized by the ECCC,” said Dr. de Langis in an interview with the Phnom Penh Post. The study shows, however, that this is not the case. Those forced into marriage were “aware in real time that the fundamental right to make a central life decision, according to cultural and social customs, was violated and that the trauma of that violation continues until today and includes far-reaching inter-generational impact,” she said.
Dr. de Langis is also author of various other papers and articles on the ECCC, gender, and peace and collaborative development.
The American University of Phnom Penh actively encourages its faculty members to engage in research, publish the results of their work, and to share their findings at academic conferences.