I am an admirer of Jimmy Carter, due largely to what he has done since leaving the office of US president in January 1981. Instead of leading a comfortable and quiet life or focusing on making a lot of money by using his political connections as many prominent American politicians do and, in the process, tarnishing the glow of democracy and market economy, Mr Carter has been doing things largely for the benefit of others. The 2002 Nobel Peace Prize is testimony to his good deeds.
Mr Carter has taken up numerous issues after leaving the presidency and has written more than two dozen books. His books are not limited to memoirs that many politicians often write after leaving office; nor are they confined to tame subjects, such as fly-fishing taken up in his 1989 book, An Outdoor Journal.
Some of them, in fact, court controversy, such as Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, published in 2007. Last month, he published another book which addresses the issues relating to discrimination and abuses against women and girls under the title A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power.
Discrimination and abuse against women and girls have remained pervasive, 65 years after the universal declaration of human rights by the UN and almost 40 years after the Decade for Women was launched by the same organisation. The discrimination and abuses are not confined to poor countries but are carried out all over the world.
The practices start very early — in the womb, where female fetuses are aborted, thanks to advanced technology. Infanticides follow when the newborn are female. Genital mutilation is carried out on girls before they reach puberty. Trafficking of girls and women as human slaves is rampant. Girls and women are raped with impunity. They are even subject to honour killings as punishment for being raped. Less violent discrimination against women includes lower levels of pay, fewer promotions at work and the denial of equal political opportunities.
Such practices happen on the presumption that men and boys are superior to women and girls, and are supported by some male religious leaders who distort the sacred texts to perpetuate their claim that females are, in some basic way, inferior to them. Not all men agree with such presumptions and distortions, but they choose to remain quiet in order to enjoy the benefits of their dominant status.
The effects are not only great human suffering but also foregone economic welfare due to the loss of financial contributions from at least half of human beings. Mr Carter, therefore, calls on people of all faiths to study such violations of basic moral values and take corrective action.
Much of the practices Mr Carter describes are alien to Thais since the country has experienced little of such discrimination and abuse. Even the trafficking of village girls from the North to jobs in Bangkok, once believed to be widespread, is no longer prevalent.
Girls and women used to have less opportunity for education than boys and men, who were able to attain reading and writing skills through being temple boys and novices or ordained as Buddhist monks. Although women are still not accepted for ordination as Buddhist monks, they have caught up in education. In fact, there are more females than males currently enrolled in higher education institutions. Thai women, therefore, have as much economic opportunity as men.
For this reason, it is not lack of opportunity that leads a large number of Thai women to enter the sex trade, be it through outright prostitution or as workers in massage parlors and karaoke bars. Nor is that the reason why many are on the constant lookout to marry a foreign retiree.
Politically, Thai women have wide opportunities. They were given the right to vote when the country changed from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary system in 1932, 39 years before Swiss women gained the right to vote in federal elections. A woman is holding the office of prime minster at present. That she has largely been a laughing stock, politically or otherwise, for much of the time she has held office is not a result of discrimination or prejudice, but of the many embarrassing things she has done since assuming power.
All in all, Thai women and girls are much better off than their peers in other parts of the world and have had as much opportunity as their male counterparts during the past 50 years when the country embarked on an accelerated development path. For this reason, could we say that both Thai women and men bear equal responsibility for the country not being more socially, economically and politically advanced than it is today?
Sawai Boonma has worked as a development economist for more than two decades. His e-mail is sboonma@msn.com