Today is the U.N. designated International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, a scourge that is a worldwide problem that needs to be addressed and a noble cause to bring awareness to.
This is also a topic that has been on my mind a lot recently with some of the stories that have been garnering headlines here in Thailand: a video clip of a Thai rock star beating his wife, the romanticization of rape in Thai soap operas and the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl on a train.
Couple these incidents with recent comments by the junta-appointed Prime Minister, former General Prayuth, that women in bikinis are not safe – that is unless they are ugly – and it’s clear that what is referred to as rape culture is very much alive and well here in Thailand.
What is Rape Culture
The term rape culture has been having a moment recently, but it is a term that dates back to the 1970s. Broadly, the term refers to the way that society blames victims of sexual assault and normalizes male sexual violence, which ranges from unsolicited sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape. While there has been organizing by people in the States to call out this unacceptable norm in society, little such outcry has registered here in Thailand.
Domestic Abuse in Thailand
In the first story I linked above, Sek Loso, a Thai rock star, was caught on camera beating his wife in front of their daughter in front of their house. Not only is this seen as normal and within the range of “marital bumps,” but Sek is now suing his wife – the person who he beat – for 200 million baht (about $6.67 million) because he claims that she intentionally made him angry so that she could release such a video in order to ruin his reputation.
This is only the most recent in a string of high profile men abusing their significant others that have played out over the past couple of years. These are not an anomaly of people in the spotlight; in 2012 survey 30.8 percent of 4,000 respondents reported abuse, and the World Health Organization reports that 41 percent of women in Bangkok have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.
Not only is the societal acceptance of such behavior a major part of the rape culture of Thailand, but the rather lenient laws against domestic violence that have the maximum punishment as a six-month jail term and/or a 6,000 baht (about $200) fine.
Sexual Violence Against Women
But aside from the normalization and lack of punishment, violence against women, especially sexual violence against women, is often shown on Thai television and used a a plot point.
The rapes are often shown as a normal part of a relationship, in that a man rapes a woman that his is interested in, begs her forgiveness and then they live happily ever after. There is always a question on how much does media influence people’s perceptions of things, but the 2008 survey results from Thailand’s Assumption University around this one are pretty startling: 20 percent of 2,000 youths (ages 13-19) said that the rapes were their favorite part of the Thai television shows and 20 percent said that rape is a normal and acceptable act in society. That is 1 in 5.
Adding to this is the repression of female sexuality and conservatism of Thai society that deems it inappropriate for women to show sexual desire before marriage. This causes rapes to be understood as a part of two categories: either an act of love for the “good girls” or a punishment for “bad girls.” Either way, it’s seen as something that women deserve, rather than a horrific act that these men perpetrate.
Things Must Change
There are certainly a lot of ways that feminism and women’s equality could benefit the women here in Thailand. But on this day, one that is meant to look at and battle against the gendered violence that is so prevalent in this world, I wanted to take the time to shine a light and bring attention to the normalized attitudes towards this in Thai culture. I don’t have answers on how to address this, but Thai women’s voices are growing louder on the topic as they begin to speak up on the unacceptable nature of this aspect of the culture.