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Photos of beer promotion women at work |
Memorial list of "beer girls" & entertainment industry colleagues in Siem Reap - prepared by Tra Tim, Pan Sophear, Srei Neang & Jillian Schuster. |
YOU CAN SUPPORT THE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION WORK IN CAMBODIA THROUGH A CHARITABLE DONATION. |
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9th April 09
Press release issued by Ian Lubek and SiRCHESI on beer sellers in Cambodia
This website tells the stories of the beer promotion women of Cambodia, through interviews, photos, video clips, and/or obituaries.Beer promotion women (called locally, beer girls) exclusively sell one brand of beer in bars and restaurants. It is usual for them to have to sell one case of beer per night in return for a monthly salary averaging approx $US55 - about half the income needed to support their family. To suppliment their income, about half accept propositions from tourists and local beer drinkers and exchange sex for money.
Condom use following beer drinking is low; HIV/AIDS prevalence averages 20% for the past 7 years. While, they may sell $13,000 worth of beer annually for their company, they are paid $600-$800 and cannot afford the yearly $360 cost for life-prolonging anti-retrovirals. Death follows from 3 months to 2 years after diagnosis; beer girls are replaced with new young women from the countryside, often with less than 1 hour of training.
Most beer companies though aware of government reports, research (a pdf copy of an article published in the Asian Psychologist 2003) and press stories, have so far declined to play fair with these women. Usually they describe them as 'promotional or advertising costs' in their annual reports, rather than as salaried or commissioned workers or subcontractors.
This representation of the women works to justify their refusal to 1) pay proper wages, 2) provide health education and 3) provide company health benefits, including antiretroviral treatments as needed. The reduction of labour costs in this way may increase corporate/shareholder profits, while ultimately proving deadly to one fifth of the female workforce. See our April 2008 press release
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To see if your favourite brand of beer is now, or is still not proactively promoting a safe, healthy and secure workplace for their sales women, please check out the brand listings at fairtradebeer.com or www.ethicalbeer.com where you'll also find research studies on the beer girls and information on how to contact the beer companies. |
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If you are concerned about corporate investments in these companies by your pension or investment fund managers, examples of responses may be found at sites from www.healthgap.org to sites that challenge and mobilize businesses and their investors www.nologo.org, www.businessfightsaids.org, www.iccr.org and www.stopesso.com
For more detailed accounts of how one local NGO, SiRCHESI (sponsored in part by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, MAC AIDS Fund, and corporate and private donors) works in Siem Reap to prevent HIV/AIDS in groups at high risk, please visit www.angkorwatngo.com
