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Kampan, 55 has been married to her husband Brang, 60 for 40 years.

The couple are members of the Kreung Tribe, a minority people, who live in the remote jungle province of Ratanakiri, NE Cambodia.

In Kreung tradition, when girls reach their early teens their parents build them their own tiny houses or “Love Huts” where they are allowed to have as many different boys as they wish come to spend the night with them. It is entirely up to the girls whether they have sex with the boys or not, though most say they wait until a boy has “proved his love” for them before doing so. Many love hut relationships are simple friendships, but if the girls do choose to go further with the boys, they are not judged on that. Kreung society encourages respect between men and women and equality in decision making and women and men say the love hut tradition gives girls independence and makes them strong.

Kampan says: “I had my own house when we first met and I think that is the best way to do things, because it means the parents wont come and disturb the young people. It was different in the old days, because the boys had to be more formal than they are now. I’d had lots of boyfriends – more than ten – before I agreed to marry Brang. I think he was a bit jealous, but it didn’t matter to him really because he loved me.

“Having the girls houses is the best way for people to find out if they really love each other. That is why very few people here get divorced, because they’ve had the chance to get to know each other and if they are meant to be together.”