In Cambodia, women entrepreneurs encounter complex barriers when accessing finance, particularly those arising from their intersectional identities. A recent study by Gender and Development for Cambodia and SHE powered by iDE delves into how factors such as age, ability status, religion, family composition, and sexual orientation, can intersect with gender and create unique challenges for women entrepreneurs. The research aims to better understand how these intersecting factors limit access to financial products, services, and investments, thus hindering women’s entrepreneurial growth. Challenges cited in the interviews include:

• Marital status: “They [the bank] said if I am a widow, my mother can join me in accessing the loan, but I don’t want her to get involved. I want to earn money myself and pay it off myself.”
• Disability: “The financial institute did not give me the amount I requested because they think due to my disability, my ability to pay back is limited”
• Age: “I am old and have a disability. When they see me, they pretend I am invisible and turn their head away, pretending they don’t see me.”
• Sexual orientation: “I was thinking of having a joint property [with my spouse] as a collateral, but we could not verify it at the bank since there was no official legal document we can do to verify that we are a married couple and own the property together.”
• Religion: “If the financial institutions provide me a package for my business investment without an interest rate, I would take it. But if it comes with an interest rate, it is against the Muslim rule.”