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Ticha's resignation throws light on Thai drafters' view on women


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Posted

SPECIAL REPORT
Ticha's resignation throws light on drafters' view on women

POLITICAL DESK
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE RESIGNATION of leading female activist-- Ticha Na Nakorn as charter drafter and reformer has sparked heated discussion whether there is gender discrimination within the drafting committee.

Last weekend, Ticha quit her post with the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) and as a National Reform Council member

Resignation from such important agencies led to the belief it was due to a dispute between female and male members. At issue was that a proposal should be inserted in the new charter requiring at least one-third of local administrative members be women.

The matter is still pending until further discussion at committee level. There are six women among 36 CDC members.

Even though many female drafters supported the proposal, it still caused conflict within the drafting committee, leaving some female members feeling there was discrimination among CDC members.

That was just one obvious example. Others included the belief of female members their proposals or ideas had been neglected by other members [mostly males].

A female member complained that "many male members occasionally looked down on women" when proposals suggested by the women were ignored and not inserted in the new charter.

The CDC discussed a new national ethical committee being set up to scrutinise politicians' morality and the ethical aspect of their roles and actions.

A female member voiced opposition, reasoning that the new body had too much authority or could even be considered as a new court for politicians. She received support from fellow women - but not men - and the meeting went ahead with the proposed committee to be inserted in the new charter.

On the matter of party-list candidates, many female drafters suggested the new charter should include a fair proportion of female candidates - but the proposal was shot down.

A female drafter pointed out that these proportional proposals were not based on female members' prejudices. Rather they were gathered from the public, which wanted to strengthen women's roles in the Constitution.

On the surface, it could lead to a perception among the public that the majority of CDC members who are men, did not see the importance of women's rights - or that male members were always undermining female members' opinions.

However, if the public had a chance to observe CDC meetings they would see clearly that male drafters' proposals were rejected or opposed as well.

For instance, a male member suggested the committee discuss the Privy Council's jurisdiction and authority, which the CDC resolved to draft in accordance with previous charters.

Regarding Ticha's resignation, on the one hand she showed her sincerity about strengthening women's rights; once the agencies did not respond favourably to her objectives, she quit.

On the other hand, Ticha was perceived as an activist who always fought for gender equality, and her resignation could make the drafting committee scrutinise further proposals more carefully and take all opinions into account.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Tichas-resignation-throws-light-on-drafters-view-o-30255213.html

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-- The Nation 2015-03-03

Posted

What a surprise, Thai men discriminating against women!

Sorry women, Thai society (males) have about another 60 years to go before they MIGHT become enlightened.

Posted

For western men it might happen in a thousand years. Oneday. Just tell me the percentage of women in banking and the percentage in senior management in the west. Stop believing the lies of the westerner media women are not treated equally in the west either. The glass ceiling is there and staying there

Posted

I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me what 'gender' has to do with a new constitution.

  • Like 1
Posted

For western men it might happen in a thousand years. Oneday. Just tell me the percentage of women in banking and the percentage in senior management in the west. Stop believing the lies of the westerner media women are not treated equally in the west either. The glass ceiling is there and staying there

You and many others assume that because the numbers of men and women in some roles is not 50-50 it must be evidence of discrimination. That's faulty logic. It ignores the fact that men and women have different interests (in the aggregate - I'm not talking about every individual), and that jobs vary in the demands placed on people. No-one argues that just because there are proportionally fewer men in nursing that it's due to discrimination against men. There are proportionally fewer women in mining--probably also not due to discrimination. Yes, discrimination certainly happens, but it doesn't explain most of the differences you are thinking about.

Posted

In stead of fighting she resigned. Kind of weak.

What would be the point in fighting a lost cause only to have yourself and the other females pushed further away from the discussions?

You're not too smart are you there's plenty in the OP to see she was tired of being a lost voice as have some of the other women, but pray tell me how would YOU go about fighting against such odds and remain in your position without it effecting your job and career opportunities?

I have met a hundred guys like you, all mouth and the majority of these vocal people all slinked off into the dark and kept their mouthes shut for fear of losing their jobs.

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