THAILAND’S EFFORT TO END VIOLENCE AGAINSTWOMEN WHICH IS ONE FORM OF CRIME
MOTIVATED BY GENDER DISCRIMINATION
Santanee Ditsayabut
Provincial Public Prosecutor
Office of the Attorney General of Thailand

I. CRIMES MOTIVATED BY GENDER DISCRIMINATION
IN THAILAND,
FOCUSING ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

“…violence against women and girls is the manifestation of aprofound lack of respect – a failure by men to recognize theinherent equality and dignity of women ... Violence against
women is tied to broader issues of power and control in oursocieties. We live in a male-dominated society. Women are
made vulnerable to violence through the multiple ways inwhich we keep them unequal ...”UN Secretary General, Antonio GuterresFirst case

Second caseThird caseWhat points do you see from these three different cases ?

“While the vast majority of homicide victims are men,
women continue to pay the highest price as a result ofgender inequality, discrimination and negativestereotypes”

Yury Fedotov
The UNODC Executive Director

What is VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ?

“Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is
likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychologicalharm or suffering to women, including threats of suchacts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or in private life.”
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violenceagainst WomenSituation of violence against women in Thailand

the study on Thai women’s experiences of and responses todomestic violence published in International Journal of
Women’s Health in 2018, about 16% of the 1,444 marriedor cohabiting women faced various forms of violence fromtheir male partner, often repeatedly in most cases.

“A 41 percent of male vocational school students
believe that husband is entitled to beat up hiswife if he found that she is unfaithful to him”

A UNICEF-supported study on Comprehensive Sexuality Education in 2017

43.3% of 1,608 female respondents“Wives or girlfriends must obey and pay
attention to their partners.”

the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation (WMPMF)

“A man is the front legs of an elephant”

Attitudes

II. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT CONCERNINGCRIMES MOTIVATED BY GENDER DISCRIMINATION

“Whoever has sexual intercourse with a woman, who is not
his wife, against her will, by threatening by any means
whatever, by doing any act of violence, by taking advantageof the woman being in the condition of inability to resist, orby causing the woman to mistaken him for the otherperson, shall be punished with imprisonment for four totwenty years and a fine of eight thousand to forty thousand
Baht”.
The Penal Code of Thailand 1956 (B.E. 2499) Section 276.

“ Whoever commits sexual intercourse with any person bythreatening by any means, by doing harm, by exploiting asituation in which such person is unable to resist, or bycausing such person to mistake the offender for any one
else shall be liable to imprisonment from four years totwenty years and a fine of eighty thousand baht to four
hundred thousand baht….”
the Penal Code Section 276 after Amendment in 2007

Article 3 “Domestic violence” means any conduct performed
with the intention to inflict harm on a family member’s
physical, mental or health condition, or with the intention
that is likely to cause harm on a family member’s physical,mental or health condition, or any use of coercion orunethical dominance which compels a family member tocommit, omit or accept any unlawful act, except an act
committed through negligence”
The Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act of B.E. 2550 (2007)

Article 4 “ Any person who has committed an act ofdomestic violence shall be deemed to havecommitted a domestic violence offence, and shall be
liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months ora fine not exceeding six thousand Baht, or both.
…….”
The Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act of B.E. 2550 (2007)

III. CHALLENGES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE
TO WOMEN EXPERIENCING CRIMES MOTIVATED BY
GENDER DISCRIMINATION.

A. Women as victims of crime- Underreported to authorities- Viewed as private issue or an internal family affair- Re-victimized by the Criminal Justice Process- Impunity for perpetrators

Male6%

Number of victims of violence from One Stop
Crisis Center (OSCC) Statistic in 2017
Year Male Female Other Total

2017 1,301 19,910

7 21,218

Average = 58 victims per dayFemale
94%Relation ship between Perpetrators and Victims

More than 50 % areintimate partners

Relationship between perpetrator and victim
Type of Charge

SpouseEx-spouse

1. Violence against Life, Body, andMind
2. Sexual Violence

66

15

3. Violence against Freedom-

4. Violence against Health
Total

Common Law
Adopted FamilyChildren
Dependent
Partnerchild member
1513-

39

2

15-

50-

-----

001---

167

15

17

18044

3

1

Table 1 Statistic of violence cases, classified by charge and the relationship between the perpetrator and thevictim for the fiscal year 2017 (1 Oct 2016- 30 Sept 2017)

Amount

Type of ChargeMale
1. Violence against life, body,and mind

perpetrator's age
above 18 years oldperpetrator's age between 0 - 18 years oldFemale

2

MaleFemale

MaleFemale

MaleFemale

-

130

16

3

14

32

107

10

2. Sexual Violence--

3. Violence against freedom--

4. Violence against health--

5. Social Violence(négligence, abandonment,etc.)--Total20

victim's age between victim's age above
0 - 18 years old18 years old-8--2-----------

142

16

22

32

111

2

3

Table 2 Statistic of violence cases, classified by charge. Cases amount classified by age and perpetrator’s gender,
age and victim’s gender for the fiscal year 2017 (1 Oct 2016- 30 Sept 2017)-2

Table 1 Statistic of violence cases, classified by charge and the relationship between the perpetrator and thevictim for the fiscal year 2018 (1 Oct 2017- 30 Sept 2018)

Amount
Type of Charge

perpetrator's age between
0 - 18 years oldperpetrator's age above 18years old

victim's age between 0 - 18years old

victim's age above 18 years
oldMaleFemale

MaleFemale

MaleFemale

MaleFemale

1. Violence against life, body, and mind

1-

138

13

91018122

2. Sexual Violence

1-

1-

2-

-

3. Violence against freedom-------

4. Violence against health-------

5. Social Violence (negligence,abandonment, etc.)-------

2-

139

131218122

Total

9Table 2 Statistic of violence cases, classified by charge. Cases amount classified by age and perpetrator’s gender,
age and victim’s gender for the fiscal year 2018 (1 Oct 2017- 30 Sept 2018)

B. Women as criminal offenders caused by being abused inthe past.
-The legal principle of self-defense- Battered woman syndrome

IV. THAILAND’ S INTEGRATED EFFORTS TO
OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES.

A. Legislation.
improvement in the procedural law of Thailand

B. Raising awareness and changing mindset of people,
especially law enforcement.
no matter how good the law is, if law enforcement
does not understand the deeply rooted issue ofpower inequality between men and women, andhave the correct attitudes towards gender
discrimination, it is impossible to effectively
enforce the law.

C. Providing mechanism for access to justice“Police Noi”

-Artificial Intelligence (AI)Sustainable
Development Goals

End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls
everywhere.
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls.

Promote peaceful and inclusive
societies for sustainable development,
provide access to justice for all andbuild effective, accountable andinclusive institutions at all levels