I came across this article in an old (2 months old) issue of The Nation. It saddened and disturbed me on so many levels:

The Nation: Tuesday February 27, 2007

‘FRIENDS OF WOMEN’ REPORT

Rapists usually know their victims

Foundation calls for more female police to tackle the problem

A report on sexual violence released yesterday reveals homes are the most common site of attacks and the (sic) most perpetrators know the victims.

The Friends of Women Foundation produced the report called “Situation of sexual violence in 2006”. Data shows 44 percent of 118 cases of sexual violence reported to its women’s rights’ protection centre in Bangkok last year occurred in victims’ homes or places they were familiar with. Just one of the reported cases occurred on an isolated street, according to centre director Supensri Puengkoksoong.

It said 84 per cent of attackers were close or known to victims. And, 41 per cent of women decide not to report assaults and rapes because of these associations, Supensri said.

The report collected additional information over the past year from five local papers –Thai Rath, Daily News, Matichon, Khao Sod and Khom Chad Luek. They reported 324 cases of sexual violence committed by 678 alleged attackers against 370 victims, according to researcher Nipaporn Raepua.

The alleged attackers included seven fathers of victims, 15 fathers-in-law and 18 other male relatives ranging from grandfathers and uncles to grandsons, Nipaporn said.

And, like the cases handled by the foundation, many of the attacks reported by the media occurred in victims’ homes. Nipaporn said 74 of the attacks occurred in the victims’ home and 63 in the homes of the alleged attackers, while 26 were on isolated streets, 12 in temples and nine at schools. The remainder were in cars, taxis and other vehicles. Thai and foreign tourists were victims of sexual assaults or rape at beaches and a dozen foreigners were accused of assaulting or raping women.

Mobile phones had become crime accessories with victims often photographed during attacks and threatened with public humiliation if police reports were made.

News reports said the oldest victim was 82 and the youngest two. The youngest offender was an eight-year-old boy who allegedly raped a 14-year-old with a 60-year-old man.

Foundation manager Jadet Chaowilai reported its six provincial centres received 189 complaints. The centres are in Chiang Mai, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Chumphon, Hat Yai and Samut Prakan. “A problem we found was that state mechanisms do not work. About 50 per cent of the 189 cases were rejected by police”, he said, adding police often did not treat sex crimes as violence, or did not take complaints seriously.

Jadet called on the government to appoint more women police officers to handle sexual assaults. Women were better equipped to handle assaults on women, he said.

The foundation has published a book called “Rape: Silence to be Shattered” which tells of 12 cases.

What do rapists think?

99% target women walking alone

95.9% target women at night

90% target women with long hair

87.5% target women who wear clothing that is easy to remove

84% target women distracted by telephone calls or loud music

80% use items carried by the victim, such as belts & keys, as weapons

70% give up if the potential victim makes eye contact or tries to start a conversation

Source: Interviews with 100 convicted rapists in Bangkok prisons by the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women and ‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine.

police often did not treat sex crimes as violence, or did not take complaints seriously.

this is the saddest part

Tragically for the victims, this is common Internationally. I can remember some time ago in England a judge commenting that a particualr woman was 'asking for it'. How can that be? Just because the person was wearing a short skirt? Would the rapist see his sister as asking for it if she wore the same thing? it is not taken seriously enough anywhere IMHO. Certainly in ME countries it is rare, but not unheard of. Never reported or the girl would never make a good marriage. The woman in (I think) Pakistan who was gang raped because her brother did something wrong, took a great deal of stick for reporting this. It's a man's world alright.

Take a look at how often rape or attempted rape is part of a video, a tv show or a movie. It is unbelieveable. No kidding, if the criminals started to actually receive serious penalties or life in prison and financial, then you woud start to see a change.

IN Thailand, children are not punished ans adults are not demonstrably punished for violent crimes. A year in jail???

Tragically for the victims, this is common Internationally. I can remember some time ago in England a judge commenting that a particualr woman was 'asking for it'. How can that be? Just because the person was wearing a short skirt? Would the rapist see his sister as asking for it if she wore the same thing? it is not taken seriously enough anywhere IMHO. Certainly in ME countries it is rare, but not unheard of. Never reported or the girl would never make a good marriage. The woman in (I think) Pakistan who was gang raped because her brother did something wrong, took a great deal of stick for reporting this. It's a man's world alright.

I remember that one, leisurely. Late 80's wasn't it? Amazing! Just proves that old men should not be allowed to become judges at all, never mind be the majority of them! While I admit, there have been some cases of women crying rape (in Western countries at least) through vindictiveness or other reasons, the vast majority are genuine & even more are never reported at all, often due to the "old boys school" mentality of the justice system. Looks like it's the same (or far worse) here, sadly.

Sexual or any type of abuse by people who are physically, mentally or politically stronger will continue until the end of time, I think. One book that made me realise this when I was a student many eons ago is Susan Brownmiller's "Against our Will: Men, Women and Rape". Unfortunately, to me, Susan is a militant feminist who is as nasty as the folks she abhors. A precis on this book:

"Against Our Will is perhaps most remarkable for its absolute lack of precedent, for as of 1975 such a comprehensive study of rape's genealogy had yet to be written. Indeed, the book created a clamor against this vast silence. Dredging up facts from the Trojan War to the Vietnam War, Brownmiller uncovered rape as a traditional military strategy. Pouring over centuries of legal history, she describes rape as an openly or quietly advocated privilege of husbands over wives, fathers over daughters. The book is broadly and meticulously researched, presenting facts that are indispensable to fields of psychoanalysis, sociology, criminology, and law. Its rhetoric does not shy from its controversial claim that rape "is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear." (This last statement is a toady generalisation and BS, IMHO)

Source: answers.com

Also, clothing coverage on women is not always the issue either, as discussed on previous threads:

The case of an Iranian girl sentenced to death for killing a man who attempted to rape her has had a happy ending: the charges have been dropped.

"Two of the judges decided that [Fatehi] should be freed unconditionally," Afshin-Jam said. "And three of the judges said that, yes, in fact it was self-defence, but that she would need to pay blood money to the family of the victim."

"Basically, it's a payment you give the victim's family when you've injured them or if there's been a murder to ask for pardon to have you released."

Fatehi was sentenced to death in an Iranian court a year ago, after admitting to stabbing to death one of three men who tried to rape her and a 16-year-old relative. Fatehi was 17 at the time.

Under Iran's strict laws on chastity, if Fatehi had allowed the men to rape her and her niece, the girls would have been subjected to 100 lashes. If they had been married at the time, they would likely have been found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning.

Fatehi's future remains uncertain. The court has set bail at 400,000,000 rials (over US$40,000).

And then I read this (interview with Celia Rivenbark, author of Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like A Skank. Maclean’s mag, 1/01/07)

Q: "I understand Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank began as a newspaper column. What led you to write it in the first place?"

A: "Well, I went shopping with my daughter, and I saw all these tween skank clothes, and one thing led to another. I just went off on the notion that these clothes are inappropriate, these hoochie-mama Las Vegas showgirl clothes marketed to kids who are as young as seven. There were all these sequined, sparkling midriff tops, lots of fishnet, shirts saying things like Jailbait, Made Ya Look or Juicy on the bottoms of the pants. Pretty disgusting."

And I thought the little rose sellers in the bars were scantily clad little waifs, prime targets for peddy assaults. But, "Jailbait" emblazoned across a seven-year-old's tee? Geesus H. No wonder the offenders get off with six months probation.

Life ain't never gonna be fair.

I remember an article in one of the Thai newspapers about a Thai woman who was raped, they showed a photo of her in the clothes she was wearing at the time, the little black bar across her eyes (like thats gonna help) and basically implied that she shouldn't have been walking down the street wearing a mini skirt.

"controversial claim that rape "is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear." (This last statement is a toady generalisation and BS, IMHO) "

It is certainly wrong to say all men.

But if you change that to "the actions of some men", I think the sentence becomes true.

The net effect of the ever present threat of rape -- which is not in any may modifiable by avoiding revealing clothes, nor much modified by many of the other conventional bits of advice (note that most of the Thai victims studied were attacked at or near their own homes) -- is that all women are intimitidated in a the average man cannot begin to imagine. It also means that we must curtail our activities and life styles in ways men don't have to. It is a minority of men who create this problem, but unfortunately we have little way of knowing who or where they are, and the effect permeates every corner of our lives.

By the way, UNFPA did a population based study in Thailand. Unlike the newspaper study, which just looked at the circumstances around known rapes, this asked a representative sample of Thai women about whether they had ever experienced sexual assault, rape or domestic violence. Won't come as a surprise to any of us that the percent was very high.

I have in the past reported on ThaiVisa my experiences and observations of helping a Thai colleague obtain company action after a serious sexual assault (at work) by A.N. Other Thai employee.

Almost as bad as the attack was the response of Thai administrative staff and managers who made every effort to deny/hide the incident and when that failed attack the victim's credibility and specifically her 'honor'.

Yes something needs to be done about sexual violence in Thailand and elsewhere.

As for the issue of Rape having been taken up by 'rabid' feminist. Well of course it has. All those 'right minded' people with their empathy for women's issues have failed to go near the subject.

Sorting out sexual violence necessitates challenging and changing a huge swathe of social issues that very many people would prefer are left alone. Remember here that it is not just women who are victims and that, as in the west, sexual violence is hiding behind many of the most trusted and revered institutions in society.