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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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Welcome to BSICambodia -- Beer Sellers In Cambodia
The BSIC ambodia website tells the story of the beer sellers working in Cambodia. We describe their current working conditions as they sell international brands of beer in restaurants, bars, night clubs, karaoke clubs and beer gardens. We are not affiliated with any brewery or beer selling industry association in Cambodia or elsewhere.
Please read the following statements about
1) Industry Code of Conduct English Khmer2) Heineken HIV/AIDS policy
Ongoing research, press releases and briefing sheets show that by 2008, the Code of Conduct had not yet been effectively implemented, non-living wages were still being offered, and Heineken's HIV/AIDS policy was not being universally applied to Cambodian HIV+ women beer sellers.
Read the latest press release: April 2009
Furthermore 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.
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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 Fair Trade Beer or Ethical Beer.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
