Thai Sex Slaver Gets Two Years In Canada

[maerim]

In S.E. Asia, more than 80 percent of cases are by people that are known to the victim, but only a fraction are reported.

I am sure that most rape victims are known to their attackers but the point I was trying to make is that if only a small percentage are reported how do "they" know it is only a small percentage of rapes are reported?

On a lighter note it has been proved by scientific experiments from the University of Dublin that a woman can run faster with her skirt up than a man can run with his trousers round his ankles.

[regpye]

QUOTE (zappa @ Sun 2004-07-11, 11:43:10)

QUOTE (regpye @ Sat 2004-07-10, 15:47:24)

Sentence was too light.   

Another 20 years might discourage these people, to be served in their own countries. 

The crime was committed in Canada, and the court had to decide by Canadian law. I do not see any reason, why the court should sentence her to a longer prison-term solely out of the fact, that she is a foreigner.

This is a crime against humanity, forget about countries.

[kat]

Yes, good points made by all. I'm not sure how researchers or the reporting entities know the number of unreported rapes, but there is no doubt that it is a phenemenon (I'm a lousy speller; please excuse).

They must sample or something, I'm not sure. But there is a definite cultural stigma attached to reporting sexual abuse here, and cervical cancer is one of the main diseases found in Thai women because many are too shy to show up for a gynecological exam before it's too late. Also, it is taboo to report a member of your family or close social circle, which is why the numbers on sexual abuse are also unreliable.

I've also heard the 80 % statistic for other parts of the Western world, so my suspicion is that it is not a disaggregated statistic. There probably aren't too many people here working on that statistic, or if they are they don't want to release it to the public yet. You know I'm not an expert on this yet, and I don't want to offend anyone, but my initial suspicion is that it is a whole lot different here in Asia than it is in the rest of the world (with the exception of Africa, another dismal place to be a woman). Of course, in some parts of South America, there is legislation that encourages a male rapist to offer to marry his victim to "save her honor."

I know sexual violence happens everywhere, but traditional and cultural attitudes towards women, abuse, and violence are different. That changes not only the context in which violence and abuse occur, but also the attitudes which undergird abuse and the legal and social mechanisms which are supposed to punish and discourgae said abuse. THIS, is very different here.

I also encountered a sort of disturbing taste of some of these attitudes personally. Last year I was sexually assaulted/harassed in Chiang Mai on the street at about 1 a.m. It wasn't serious or life threatening, but I was grabbed around the neck from behind, and sort of felt-up until I could muster enough strength to resist. The guy ran off, and I was glad I still had my wallet (the assault itself wasn't that serious except that it happened), and I continued to walk (very fast) to my guesthouse. The next day when I told the Thai guesthouse manager (a young, seemingly hip Thai male that spoke good English) and a young expat, they broke out into this supressed laughter as if I committed some kind of social faux pas by even mentioning it. To be honest, their reaction stunned me more than the actual incident itself. I'm sure these kinds of attitudes have a large impact on S.E. Asian women reporting incidents that are far worse, grave, and humiliating. The woman is the cause of all suffering here in Asia, so we are supposed to shut up and get on with it.

The difference I think that is in the west, if I was assaulted by an anonymous sexual offender on the street, I would be lucky to survive. Here anonymous assault seems mostly benign or low by comparison. I think the long-term and repeated abuse by associates is a lot more violent and frequent here. There also appears to be more frequent gang rapes here. But this is only a hypothesis right now because it is very hard to find the data to even begin studying it. But one thing for sure, sexual trafficking of women and girls is a major problem that is done in collusion with the rich, powerful, and influential with impunity here. They are much more happier to feature the picture and names of foreign pediophiles than they are to feature the mugs of their own rampant and deeply entrenched abuse (which, as I said, I'm no expert on yet, but even preliminary digging and observations reveal a major problem).

In terms of what to do about trafficking, I'm still looking into this. There are interesting articles in today's Nation. It's been somewhat difficult for me to align myself with some Thai women's organizations, for various reasons. But there are a few international entities working here on trafficking and its associated dangers, such as Aid transmission, lack of identity for hilltribe families, and Burmese migrants. There are lots of ways to contribute.

[john b good]

I also encountered a sort of disturbing taste of some of these attitudes personally. Last year I was sexually assaulted/harassed in Chiang Mai on the street at about 1 a.m. It wasn't serious or life threatening, but I was grabbed around the neck from behind, and sort of felt-up until I could muster enough strength to resist. The guy ran off, and I was glad I still had my wallet (the assault itself wasn't that serious except that it happened), and I continued to walk (very fast) to my guesthouse. The next day when I told the Thai guesthouse manager (a young, seemingly hip Thai male that spoke good English) and a young expat, they broke out into this supressed laughter as if I committed some kind of social faux pas by even mentioning it. To be honest, their reaction stunned me more than the actual incident itself. I'm sure these kinds of attitudes have a large impact on S.E. Asian women reporting incidents that are far worse, grave, and humiliating. The woman is the cause of all suffering here in Asia, so we are supposed to shut up and get on with it.

Welcome to Thailand Kat.

You got the standard (and not unexpected) reaction from the Thai guesthouse manager.

Regarding the young expat I would expect that he is a dropout from society somewhere so you can't expect a lot more from him either. He could have even been the perpetrator.

And had you reported the incident to the police they might not have fallen over laughing but they wouldn't have done very much about it either.

Sad but true.

[daveh]

I agree that if this woman mislead the girls she brought to Canada, then she deserves what she got and more. But what if she was honest with these girls and told them she could get them to Canada where they could earn $80,000 a year, of which they would have to pay a one-time fee of $40,000? After two or three years, the girls could return to Thailand with a boat load of money. Certainly, the girls would be better off than doing the same thing in Pattaya.

Even if she were completely honest with the girls, I doubt any of them would testify to that fact. First the prosecutors would not call them as witnesses, and even if they did they would probably offer them immunity from working illegally for offering testimony against her. So I don't always believe what I read in regards to "human traffiking".

[meemiathai]

I agree that if this woman mislead the girls she brought to Canada, then she deserves what she got and more. But what if she was honest with these girls and told them she could get them to Canada where they could earn $80,000 a year, of which they would have to pay a one-time fee of $40,000? After two or three years, the girls could return to Thailand with a boat load of money. Certainly, the girls would be better off than doing the same thing in Pattaya.

Very much agree.

So I don't always believe what I read in regards to "human traffiking".

It is not just "human traffiking" but everything, I have witnessed quite a few cases of misinformation by the media.

Well I guess it goes both ways. Sometimes better and sometimes worse.

[kat]

I agree that if this woman mislead the girls she brought to Canada, then she deserves what she got and more. But what if she was honest with these girls and told them she could get them to Canada where they could earn $80,000 a year, of which they would have to pay a one-time fee of $40,000? After two or three years, the girls could return to Thailand with a boat load of money. Certainly, the girls would be better off than doing the same thing in Pattaya.

Even if she were completely honest with the girls, I doubt any of them would testify to that fact. First the prosecutors would not call them as witnesses, and even if they did they would probably offer them immunity from working illegally for offering testimony against her. So I don't always believe what I read in regards to "human traffiking".

Yeah, I'm also struggling with some of these sentiments. However what I know is that many of the trafficked Thai women have no idea what conditions await them when they go over. By now, there are many transnational Thai and other prostitutes that are increasingly going to other destinations for sex work (i.e. Germany). But voluntary sex work and slave sex work are two completly different lives. Some Thai women that are trafficked to Japan don't even know they are trafficked until they are kept in slave-like condtions once they are there. A few manage to escape and are rescued by women's organizations in Japan.

Routes vary.

Themajority of hilltribe girls, Burmese, and some Southern Chinese girls are kidnapped or flat out lied to and then sold like cattle down the chain of command.

[meemiathai]

voluntary sex work and slave sex work are two completly different lives.

Some are in-between.