Cambodia: The Fading Tradition of Kreung 'Girl Houses' in Ratanakiri

The construction of huts for Kreung minority teenage girls, so they can have sexual relations before marriage, has long been rooted in this minority's culture. But it seems this custom now belongs almost entirely to the past.

Women from Tang Kamal village fetch water at the well. Photo Charlotte Pert

On a Friday evening during the dry season, sunset is approaching, and in Tang Kamal village, women gather near the well to bathe and collect water. Cooling off after a long day working in the fields, they try to avoid tripping over the pigs, dogs, and chickens scurrying at their feet.

When the sun sets, many of these women will sleep with their families in their homes.

But some of the teenage girls will be the exception. The tradition of the Kreung minority, spread across 27 villages in the Ochum district of Ratanakiri province, is to build private huts for girls when they reach puberty. The idea of these huts, or "girl houses," is that young women have the space and opportunity to invite boys, get to know them, and have sexual relations if they wish.

Yang Na is 16 years old, and her parents built her a girl house when she was 13. She sleeps alone, and if a boy visits her, it's she who decides whether to let him in or not. Sometimes, they stay all night talking. It's up to her, she says, and she feels in control:

"I have the power to sleep with a boy if I want, but if I don't like him, I always say no, and he leaves."

The Kreung community values premarital sex, she says, because it's a way to prove to parents that a boy and a girl love each other. She adds: "If we have sex and we're sure we love each other, and our parents are too, then we can get married."

Among the Kreung of Tang Kamal

Tang Kamal is located seven kilometers north of the provincial capital Banlung and is home to 100 Kreung families. Their survival depends on farming land more than 10 km away on foot, through dense forest, and growing cashew nuts that they then sell at markets. The nearest clinic is in another village, three kilometers away, and many Kreung prefer traditional medicine.

Yang Na says her parents built this house for her when she was 13. Charlotte Pert

But Tang Kamal stands out particularly from other Kreung villages. It's one of the few still building huts for its teenagers. This custom is fading as the minority is exposed to modernization and Khmer culture.

Families can now afford to build larger houses, and parents are increasingly choosing to create a room inside the house for their daughters rather than building them a new hut.

According to the NGO CARE Cambodia, the Kreung are now able to build larger, sturdier houses thanks to economic development and improved livelihoods:

"Their traditional houses are much smaller, but they also have to be rebuilt every year because they're made of bamboo and get damaged during the rainy season. Building a larger wooden house is much more practical."

Laork Village

According to Roeun from the Laork village community, where at least 150 Kreung families live, parents used to build huts for teenagers, boys and girls, but about two years ago, they dismantled them to give them a room inside the house:

"Before, this community followed this old custom; parents built houses for the girls and for the boys. But there were too many problems, like girls getting pregnant without a husband, or boys fighting over girls."

Parents still allow their daughters to have sex before marriage, but if a girl sleeps under the same roof, they can have more control: "Sometimes parents worried that the girl was sleeping with too many boys, but now they can make sure that doesn't happen."

Naoung Tien, also from Laork, explains that the custom disappeared in her village after the Pol Pot regime. She was just a child when the Khmer Rouge took power and remembers being sent to work elsewhere in Ratanakiri. Upon her return, she says, the girl houses were a thing of the past: "There were huts in 1975, but I remember that when I came back, there were no more."

With her husband, she built separate rooms in her house for her daughters:

"There's nothing wrong with girls sleeping with boys if they love each other, and if the parents meet and approve."

Suri, also from the Kreung ethnicity, left her home village for Kraes to get married. Photo Charlotte Pert

There are subtle differences in the customs of each Kreung community. Kala village, for example, is 20 km from Banlung. Like in other villages, the only sounds are the clucking of chickens, children's laughter, and the occasional bark of a dog.

Kala, the end of the huts

Here, there are girl houses and also boy houses, the notable difference being that the latter are built on higher stilts. But they are no longer used for traditional purposes.

Ravee recounts that she and her husband built a hut for their daughter, who got married before having a chance to use it. Perched on the edge of that same structure, Ravee moves between the inside of the hut, where she tends a bubbling stove, and the outside. Since their daughter's marriage, she and her husband use the hut to store their pots and pans. Below, three sleeping pigs lounge in the shade.

Ravee confides that Kala residents are also building larger houses, some even made of brick. There's no need for a separate building anymore, but like in Laork village, girls will sleep in a separate room in the family home.

"For our community, it's normal to have sex before marriage, but now the girl's parents can get to know the boy because he can stay with them for a few days. They can inquire about the boy's background, ask the village if he comes from a good family or if he's lazy. It's still important that the boy works hard."

Rape is not accepted in Ravee's community, she says, despite the increased vulnerability of a woman alone in a house. There are no statistics, but Ravee continues:

"Our tradition is that if a boy has sex with a girl by force, he gets fined by the village chief, who takes livestock from his parents. Boys are usually very afraid of that, so they don't have sex with a girl without her consent."

She adds:

"It's the girl who decides if she'll sleep with the boy or not, and later she'll decide if she'll marry him or not. She's the one in control."

The village of Kraes, located about 10 km farther from Banlung, has also gotten rid of this tradition.

No tradition in Kraes

Tuot, 12 years old, confides that her parents have already decided not to build her a hut, because they have a concrete house.

A young couple has put the finishing touches on what looks very much like a girl house—but they explain they built it to store food. Suri, 18 years old, recently married and from another Kreung village, moved here for her husband and says that even in her village, the practice was fading.

The tradition of girl houses has been part of Kreung culture for a long time. Photo Charlotte Pert

Aum Seaynng, who prefers to be called Jammy, is in charge of sales at a trekking company that organizes homestays with indigenous minority groups. He has many years of trekking experience in the area, but the last time he came to Kraes, he was surprised to see how much things had changed:

"Right here, there used to be girl houses, and now there are none—I'm surprised people have abandoned this tradition."

"Now they're richer, they can afford a bigger house, and they have rooms inside the house—not like before when everyone slept together."

Kreung villages were once cut off from the rest of society, which allowed them to preserve their traditions. But today, they have access to Khmer culture through television and radio. According to Jammy, they know that in this culture, it's not good to have sex before marriage. They also attend Cambodian schools, where teachers educate them in that direction.

Emily Wight & Vandy Muong with our partner The Phnom Penh Post