Campaigners are calling out Thailand’s weak domestic violence laws, accusing them of protecting abusers more than victims, and demanding urgent reform.
Civil society groups are ramping up pressure on the new government to prioritise a long-delayed draft law that would strengthen protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Yesterday, September 10, the Coalition Against Gender-Based Violence Thailand hosted a public forum to scrutinise the legal shortcomings in tackling gender-based violence. The event brought together activists, legal experts, and lawmakers to push for faster legislative progress.
Sasinan Thamnithinan, vice president of the Thai Women Parliamentarian Caucus, warned that violence comes in many forms: domestic abuse, sexual harassment, physical assault, and even online abuse. She said the current laws fail to reflect the full scope of the problem.
“Women, sexually diverse persons, and transgender people are especially vulnerable. Substance use, including alcohol and drugs, often worsens the violence.”
Sasinan said the existing laws are riddled with gaps in principle, scope, and enforcement, leaving countless victims without proper protection. She urged the government to pass two pending bills: the Sexual Harassment Bill, which has already cleared the House and is awaiting Senate review, and the newly proposed Victims of Domestic Violence Protection Bill, which aims to plug legal loopholes and focus on victim-centred protection.
Angkana Intasa, from the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation (WMP), presented data from 2023 showing worrying trends. Out of 1,086 domestic violence cases, 29.1% involved alcohol and 26.1% involved drugs. Nearly 40% involved physical assault, primarily between spouses, while 35.7% involved murder, with many incidents occurring within marriages.
She added that sexual violence within families made up 4.2% of cases, frequently involving stepfathers, fathers, or other male relatives.
In the same year, 194 cases of sexual violence were reported by Thai media. Of these, rape accounted for 44.3%, indecent acts 20.1%, and sexual harassment 11.4%. Alarmingly, nearly 40% of victims were between 11 and 15 years old, with some as young as three. In over 47% of cases, the perpetrators were someone the victim knew, such as teachers, neighbours, or former partners, according to Bangkok Post.
Varaporn Chamsanit, representing the coalition, said the current law places too much emphasis on reconciliation rather than justice.
“It allows abusers to go unpunished while leaving victims exposed. The new bill prioritises safety and demands criminal accountability.”
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