The 1997 constitution called for an independent National Human Rights Commission, with implementing legislation due by September 1999. NGOs estimate that at least 250,000 female prostitutes work in Thailand, up to one-fifth of whom are under age 18. Many are trafficked from hill tribes and from neighboring Burma, and the system operates with the complicity of corrupt police and local officials. Girls sold into prostitution by their families become bonded laborers. The government has extended compulsory education and expanded an awareness campaign, but has barely enforced a 1996 anti-trafficking law.
Domestic violence remains a problem.
Women are frequently denied the minimum wage, and are underrepresented in parliament. Religious freedom is respected. However, Muslims face societal and employment discrimination, and several activists are reportedly imprisoned for political views. Roughly half of the 500-700,000 members of hill tribes are not registered citizens, and thus cannot vote or own land and have difficulty in obtaining social services. Thailand has for years sheltered hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asian refugees, including currently some 125,000 Burmese refugees.