Nattha Komolvadhin, Women’s Studies Center,
Chiang Mai University, Thailand

A seminar on violence against women, held on November 25, 2006 - the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, between a Human Rights Commissioner and over 60 women rural leaders from the North of Thailand was aimed at discussing the Domestic Violence Bill being drafted by Thailand’s Human Rights Commission. The seminar provided an opportunity for the Human Rights Commissioner to present the draft bill and receive feedback from the participants. The seminar was organised by the Foundation for Women, Law and Rural Development (FORWARD), Women’s Studies Center (WSC) of Chiang Mai University and the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD). The meeting also aimed at informing and training local women leaders in legal issues related to violence against women.

Naiyana Supapueng, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, explained that the domestic violence in the family can be emotional, social, cultural and economic. While, wife battering is definitely a direct domestic violence against women, emotional violence includes abusive language and acts aimed to humiliate or insult someone. Violence against women also includes abandoning a wife and family with no means to sustain themselves. Naiyana pointed out that the new law needs to clearly state that domestic violence is a crime and thus government officials should have legal enforcement mechanisms to bring perpetrators to justice.

Family is not necessarily the safest place for women. Very often violence happens in a domestic arena and committed by people who are close to women, especially their partners. Domestic violence tends to bring embarrassment and shame to the family, thus women often do not report domestic violence cases to the court or the police. The belief that a family matter is a private issue is held strongly in the Thai society.

A rural leader from Phichit province shared that there is a man in her community who batters his wife very often. Having attended a series of FORWARD’s paralegal trainings she knows that a legal action can be taken against the husband. She encouraged the battered wife to take a legal action against her husband, but the wife said “This is a family business and I have always been told that I should not wash my linen in the public.” So the battered wife has to endure physical and emotional pain to prevent a family break-up.

Taking a legal action can be a formal solution to the domestic violence against women. However, social pressure can be a form of social punishment which stops the problem temporarily. Another rural leader shared her experience of using social pressure on an abusive husband. One night, when the husband was beating his wife using abusive words very loudly, the leader and other villagers stood in front of their house and shouted together that wife battering is wrong and domestic violence is unacceptable. “The heated argument in the household stopped and the violence was halted, at least temporarily,” said the rural leader. She added that many villages have now understood that violence in the family is considered domestic violence and when aware of it, they can alleviate or stop it.

Associate Professor Virada Somswasdi, the founder of FORWAD, who has been advocating for women’s human rights for three decades, said that domestic violence against women should be urgently discussed among the public to pave a way for drafting the Domestic Violence Bill.

In addition to the drafting of the Bill on Elimination of Domestic Violence against Women, Promotion of Equal Opportunities and Gender Equality Bill is another work-in-progress. Saranya Chaiyasuta, a lawyer and a member of the Women Lawyers Association’s board of directors, a member of the working group on drafting the Equal Opportunities and Gender Equality Bill met the local women leaders at the same event.

One of the main concerns for the bill is gender discrimination at work, such as women may not be given equal opportunities in recruitment. Currently the working group is working on the definition of gender discrimination, authority of the court to take a legal action against an employer and compensation guidelines for a discriminated person.

For example, a woman may be asked during a job interview whether she has plans to have children in the near future, if so she may not be considered for a job. This kind of discrimination against women requires legal redress mechanism and compensation. However, Saranya notes, “we can have a bill on gender discrimination and gender equality, but it will be useless if we do not have an authority from the court to take a legal action in pursuing the case.”

There will be a number of public hearings around the country early next year to enable the working group in drafting the two bills.