Wiki activists help to write Cambodian womens history
Wikipedias Khmer language coverage is patchy at best, and almost non-existent when it comes to profiling the countrys most important women. This weekend, online activists are joining forces to flood the site with new entries
Browsing the Khmer-language version of Wikipedia, knowledge seekers can find entries for many prominent Cambodians. Prime Minister Hun Sen, opposition leader Sam Rainsy and architect Vann Molyvann all feature. Even the late National Police Commissioner Hok Lundy has an extensive biography. But almost all the entries are for men.
While Mu Sochua, arguably Cambodias most influential female opposition lawmaker, has a 713 word article on English Wikipedia, she doesnt have an entry at all on the Khmer site. Nor does Bun Rany, wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen, nor Somaly Mam, the disgraced celebrity human rights activist. The late 1960s and 1970s singer Ros Sereysothea is one of only a handful of female profiles on the site.
Blogger Kounila Keo. ALEXANDER CROOK
I think womens voices are underrepresented there are many issues that are strongly concerned with women, and they lack the opportunity to raise their voice, said Oum Vannarith, public relations director at Zaman University and prolific Wikipedia editor.
Vannarith said he had no specific data on the number of women on the sites Khmer edition, but it was much less than the 55 entries on English Wikipedias Khmer women category page.
To mark International Womens Day tomorrow, Vannarith is planning to host a gathering of Wikipedia editors at the 5D Lab Cambodia community centre to add new entries about Cambodian women to the Khmer language version of the site. About 10 Cambodians in other parts of the world are also expected to chip in at the same time.
We will ask participants who they get inspiration from, who they admire, and then we will identify key people ... and then we will teach them how to research and add to Khmer Wikipedia, he said.
According to Vannarith, Khmer Wikipedia had 4,655 articles as of Thursday. This places it ahead Kashubian, a Slavic language spoken in parts of Poland, and behind Sardinian in rankings.
While the approach of the 5,000-article-in-Khmer mark is a significant milestone for Wiki since the local language pages launched in 2013, Vannarith said that the lack of female editors was among his biggest concerns as an editor.
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Wiki activists help to write Cambodian womens history