WHO’s on domestic abuse: A timely study highlights violence against Thai women

By Elayne Clift | Special to the Vermont Guardian

Posted December 30, 2005

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The first World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence couldn’t have come at a better time for women’s advocates in Thailand. As they scrutinized a pending domestic violence law — against the backdrop of the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25 — WHO’s report, “Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women Study,” underscored the extent of the problem in this southeast Asian country, one of 11 included in the research.

“This is the first study ever conducted in Thailand on this issue and it has made us better aware of the extent of violence that women experience in our country,” noted study team member Dr. Churnrurtai Kanchanachitra of Mahidol University. “The findings help to develop the national plan for the elimination of violence against women and children.”

Such a national plan will need to take into account women’s concerns about Thailand’s proposed domestic violence law. “It’s simply too weak,” according to law student Areewan Jatuthong, quoted in the Bangkok Post. Jatuthong, a former beauty queen, was a victim of domestic violence; her ex-husband received a sentence of six years in jail for his acts of abuse, humiliation, and control. But a draft of the pending domestic violence bill would allow a man like Jatuthong’s former spouse to walk out of jail in six months or less, and/or be fined only 5,000 baht (about $125). The bill also discounts marital rape and allows only three months for victims to press charges.

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