Acid attacks, beatings, crowdfunding: ABC of Thai domestic violence

By Rina Chandran

 

A woman walks along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok October 29, 2011. Receding floodwaters north of Bangkok have reduced the threat to the Thai capital, the prime minister said on Saturday, but a rise in coastal high tides in the Gulf of Thailand will still test the city's flood defences. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND)HAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E7AT1L9P01

 

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Assaulted with acid by her husband as she slept, Chorlada Tarawan died hours later, refused treatment by a Bangkok hospital as a final indictment of her worth.

 

Brutalised in life, ignored in her hour of pressing need, Chorlada has galvanised Thailand in death and become a symbol of the pervasive and persistent violence so many Thai women face.

 

Activists protested with her coffin outside the hospital, and petitioned the health ministry to investigate the hospital's "moral negligence".

 

The husband has been arrested, said police officials, under pressure to act after a surge in grisly stories about male-on-female violence.

 

"To be abused by her husband, then denied by the hospital shows how we treat abuse victims," said Jadet Chaowilai, director of advocacy group Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation.

 

"Everyone failed her. Particularly the society that regards domestic violence as a private matter, and tells women to stay quiet," he said, ahead of Sunday's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

 

The statistics make for grim reading.

 

One in three women around the world has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their partner, according to the World Health Organization.

 

Of women who were victims of homicide in 2012, nearly half were killed by intimate partners or family members, it said.

 

Yet women who experience violence are often blamed and their testimonies doubted, said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of United Nations Women.

 

"Fear of reprisals, of not being believed, and the stigma borne by the survivor have silenced the voices of millions of survivors of violence and masked the true extent of women's continued horrific experiences," she said in a statement.

 

SILENT EPIDEMIC

 

Across the world, women of all ages endure violence despite legislation to prevent it. Male-dominated societies and deep-rooted traditions are often blamed - whatever the cause, the same pattern of degradation repeats.

 

In Mauritania, violence against women is seen as an act of love and an accepted practice among some ethnic groups.

 

In Britain, the government has proposed new measures including electronic monitoring devices for abusers to tackle the "silent national health epidemic" of domestic abuse.

 

Russia last year eased some penalties for domestic violence, while a long-awaited law in Morocco does not go far enough to protect women from abuse, activists say.

 

In Thailand, the Domestic Violence Victim Act was enacted in 2007, vowing harsher punishments for abusers and better protection for women.

 

But this has not proved a major deterrent, as few cases are reported, said Busayapa Srisompong, a lawyer and founder of a non-profit that helps victims of domestic abuse.

 

Busayapa, herself a survivor of domestic violence, said even she had struggled to file her complaint, with the police advising her to "go back and work things out".

 

She persisted and won her case, but that is rare.

 

"Domestic violence has been normalised and justified for so long that even the few women who dare to speak up and go to the police are discouraged from filing a report," she said.

 

"Even in court, the prosecutor will often tell the victim to go back to her husband for the sake of the family. Imagine the effect it has on a traumatised woman," she said.

 

There is scant official Thai data on violence against women.

 

A survey of about 2,500 Thai women in four provinces showed one in six women faced intimate partner violence, according to a study by researcher Montakarn Chuemchit at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, published earlier this year.

 

But nearly 90 percent of rape cases go unreported, according to a study published last year by U.N. Women.

 

PRIVATE MATTER

 

Local media have carried a slew of stories detailing graphic attacks on women, a phenomenom that appears to be on the rise.

 

Earlier this week, a man was arrested for killing his pregnant wife and mutilating her body.

 

In June, a man confessed he had beaten his ex-girlfriend with a hammer, then cut her body into pieces and disposed of them in a wooded part of Bangkok.

 

The same month, two men separately shot their ex-girlfriends to death in public.

 

One man beat his girlfriend live on Facebook.

 

In another case that made headlines, a man sued his ex-girlfriend for defamation after she wrote on social media that she had suffered abuse. She did not name her abuser, yet the man sued her in a provincial court.

 

His lawyer told the judge that domestic violence was "a private matter," said Busayapa, who represented the woman.

 

As the woman struggled to pay mounting bills, Busayapa set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to help her, garnering about $1,500.

 

The man dropped the case a few weeks later.

 

"Despite the difficulty of going to a distant court, we pursued the case - for her sake, and to show other victims that domestic violence is not a private matter, and that we are not to blame," Busayapa told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

 

The Thai police cadet academy's decision to admit only male candidates from next year could discourage reporting of sexual assaults and domestic violence, she said.

 

TIME UP?

 

Be it #MeToo or #TimesUp, #BalanceTonPorc or #HollaBack!, global movements this past year have encouraged women from the United States to India to speak up and speak out.

 

They have had little effect in Thailand, despite local efforts to highlight the crisis and force some sort of progress.

 

Model and television host Cindy Bishop earlier this year curated an exhibition in Bangkok of clothes worn by girls and women when they were sexually assaulted to highlight victim shaming.

 

Last week, she launched a campaign to encourage women to shed traditions that encourage them to keep quiet about abuse.

 

"There are several sayings in Thai about keeping family issues private, and how quarrels between a husband and wife are normal. But violence is not normal or a private matter," she said.

 

"The law alone is not enough. It will take a massive, combined effort by men and women to change how we think and act towards women."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-25

"A woman walks along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok October 29, 2011. Receding floodwaters north of Bangkok have reduced the threat to the Thai capital, the prime minister said on Saturday, but a rise in coastal high tides in the Gulf of Thailand will still test the city's flood defences. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND)HAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E7AT1L9P01" ... as hard as I try, I cannot tie this to the article... can someone help me.

One word '' Ego''..........Thai male ego is out of control..

The woman was not denied treatment at Rama 2 Hospital, they could not offer her treatment as they had NO DR on duty in their so called A&E department. They allegedly sent her in a taxi to Bang Mod Hospital further down Rama 2 on the other side of the road. It needs to be asked why they did not send her to Nakornthon hospital about 600 yards from Rama 2, they would have driven straight past it with a dying women in the back to the much further one where she died.

Edited November 25, 20187 yr by Orton Rd

So sad but so true.

 

On a separate note, I guess the picture at the top is there by inadvertence, it doesn't seem to connect to the story.

2 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

"A woman walks along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok October 29, 2011. Receding floodwaters north of Bangkok have reduced the threat to the Thai capital, the prime minister said on Saturday, but a rise in coastal high tides in the Gulf of Thailand will still test the city's flood defences. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND)HAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E7AT1L9P01" ... as hard as I try, I cannot tie this to the article... can someone help me.

 

Obtained from photo library keyworded as something like "woman, walks, Bangkok," but mistakenly pasted with caption previously used with it.

 

(Plus poor or absent proof reading)

 

 

 

Edited November 25, 20187 yr by Enoon

Well, I see they have one half of domestic violence covered. For the record, men are more likely to experience domestic violence from their partner than women. That said I understand that because men are much bigger and stronger women suffer more significant injuries. I would venture if they cracked down on the violence on both sides it would send a better message the violence is not acceptable. Don't just focus on the men excusing the women. When things get physical, things tend to escalate. 

4 minutes ago, Ulic said:

Well, I see they have one half of domestic violence covered. For the record, men are more likely to experience domestic violence from their partner than women. That said I understand that because men are much bigger and stronger women suffer more significant injuries. I would venture if they cracked down on the violence on both sides it would send a better message the violence is not acceptable. Don't just focus on the men excusing the women. When things get physical, things tend to escalate. 

Please provide a link to the data supporting your claim that men suffer more from domestic violence than women.

As i see it a major problem here is Thai's are very reticent to talk about their emotions,i guess a lot of it has to do with face,i tried to talk to my wife about how i was feeling after we had quite a major dispute,i asked her what her feelings were,result,she clammed up and i got the silent treatment,i sighed and just gave up making a mental note not to bother again. So a Thai couple may go on like this bottling it up until wham,someone looses it and goes mental ,next thing someone is dead,it may not be the whole reason but it is a contributing factor in my opinion

3 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

"A woman walks along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok October 29, 2011. Receding floodwaters north of Bangkok have reduced the threat to the Thai capital, the prime minister said on Saturday, but a rise in coastal high tides in the Gulf of Thailand will still test the city's flood defences. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND)HAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E7AT1L9P01" ... as hard as I try, I cannot tie this to the article... can someone help me.

Possibly a symbolic representation of Thai womens fear of a rising tide of male violence?

 

Now't wrong with that, or the main thrust of the article. Thailand is inarguably still very much a male-dominated society and far too many women are victims of sexual abuse and physical violence from spouses boyfriends and opportunistic strangers. 

 

Maybe that is what makes Westeners such a desirable catch, particularly for Thai women who have already experienced the downside of marriage to a member of the indigenous population.

 

 

 

25 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Please provide a link to the data supporting your claim that men suffer more from domestic violence than women.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/05/men-victims-domestic-violence

 

Claiming that men suffer DV more than women is a bit hyperbolic. However, it does happen at alarming rates and often the women who do abuse are let off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Be interesting to find out how many Thai MEN are the victims of violence by other men. Hardly a day passes without a report of some poor beggar being beaten to pulp by a pack of human hyenas.

4 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

The woman was not denied treatment at Rama 2 Hospital, they could not offer her treatment as they had NO DR on duty in their so called A&E department. They allegedly sent her in a taxi to Bang Mod Hospital further down Rama 2 on the other side of the road. It needs to be asked why they did not send her to Nakornthon hospital about 600 yards from Rama 2, they would have driven straight past it with a dying women in the back to the much further one where she died.

Did I miss something?

I read the woman did not want treatment in that hospital - she wanted to go to another one.

Whom to believe?

3 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

Did I miss something?

I read the woman did not want treatment in that hospital - she wanted to go to another one.

Whom to believe?

You didn't "miss something".

You are correct.

1 hour ago, marko kok prong said:

As i see it a major problem here is Thai's are very reticent to talk about their emotions,i guess a lot of it has to do with face,i tried to talk to my wife about how i was feeling after we had quite a major dispute,i asked her what her feelings were,result,she clammed up and i got the silent treatment,i sighed and just gave up making a mental note not to bother again. So a Thai couple may go on like this bottling it up until wham,someone looses it and goes mental ,next thing someone is dead,it may not be the whole reason but it is a contributing factor in my opinion

Thai women are all the same ask to discuss a personal issue ;you are told you talk too much. Then when personal issue is reality its a Thai crisis.

8 minutes ago, Donaldo said:

Men are less likely to admit being the victim of gender violence because of the social stigma attached. This should also include the psychological abuse. I am all for eradicating violence in any shape or form, but most of the reporting on gender violence is always negatively biased towards man. So that's why the crime statistics are not reliable. There are however studies available that show an entirely different picture. They are all available on the internet if you want to do some private research on the issue. A starter could be Wikipedia "domestic violence against men".

Wikipedia?

 

So no credible evidence then. 

 

Thought so. 

 

I’ll stick to the more reliable crime statistics. 

Edited November 25, 20187 yr by Bluespunk

Verbal abuse, physical abuse is all the same. Some of this abuse bubbles down from jealousy and face. 

I see that this wonderful legend is at its best:

non violent angels calm and free of ego are hurt by bad Thai men
it may be true in cambodia because definitely not in Thailand

and who brings up these evil Thai men...aliens ?
or maybe "non violent angels ?"

8 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

"A woman walks along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near Bangkok October 29, 2011. Receding floodwaters north of Bangkok have reduced the threat to the Thai capital, the prime minister said on Saturday, but a rise in coastal high tides in the Gulf of Thailand will still test the city's flood defences. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang (THAILAND)HAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) - GM1E7AT1L9P01" ... as hard as I try, I cannot tie this to the article... can someone help me.

Thai journalism?

Otherwise, I agree, it's pretty hard to follow the line of thought.

 

 

5 hours ago, sweatalot said:

Did I miss something?

I read the woman did not want treatment in that hospital - she wanted to go to another one.

Whom to believe?

An earlier report and of course people can say she wanted anything when no longer here. She lived on a moobhan we visit often.

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/hospital-in-hot-waters-for-allegedly-refusing-to-accept-acid-attacked-woman-who-later-dies/

 

again on the Hospital

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/rama-ii-hospital-temporarily-closed-for-turning-car-park-into-out-patient-building/

 

I think it was the taxi driver who claimed there was no DR on duty, the Hospital claimed he was in the toilet. Nobodies responsibility as usual. Rama 2 was definitely the closest Hospital to her Moobhan, in her condition it's not likely she would have wanted to travel further. Shows Rama 2 hospital in the distance the first one they would come to. Just down the rd the excellent Nakornthon hospital that they drove past to get to Bang Mod, strange thing to do.

Edited November 25, 20187 yr by Orton Rd