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.