Ever since The New York Times and the New Yorker published their explosive articles on Harvey Weinstein's repulsive serial sexual assaults, every day, a new round of accusations have surfaced, and every day, a rich and powerful man is finally being held accountable.
From actor Kevin Spacey to ArtForum publisher Knight Landesman, slowly but surely, they're losing their jobs, banned from future projects, and hopefully will be facing legal charges in the future.
With the once untouchable finally being held responsible, women from all over the world have had more courage to speak out against those who have done them wrong. They united with the Twitter campaign #MeToo, sharing their stories of being sexually harassed from the workplace to the streets. Even Miss Peru contestants protested on gender violence by giving gender-violence statistics instead of their body measurements live on stage.
Thailand, predictably enough, has been quite silent on the movement. Although women have been raising awareness with the #MeToo campaign, men in authoritative positions are still walking away guilt-free.
In March this year, Thararat Panya, a Thammasat law student, was raped by a senior she trusted. Calling for disciplinary action from the university, her rapist merely got a semester-long suspension after a four month-long investigation. In September, a senior journalist was accused by a female subordinate of harassing her to the point that she had to quit. ISRA Institute, where the perpetrator works, came out to defend him, citing the accusation as a way to destroy the journalist's reputation. And most recent and infuriating of all has to be the case from the Ministry of Public Health. With a spine-chilling video of a senior official putting a female subordinate in a headlock and groping her breasts, the deputy director still had the nerve to question whether the harassment was so serious that the employee had to go to the police, claiming that the senior official was only joking around. Till now, the senior official has yet to be punished at all.
These though, are only the reported cases. For rape, statistics indicate that in Thailand, a woman is raped every 15 minutes, making around 30,000 rape cases a year. However, for sexual harassment, there are barely any numbers to go by. So few people report sexual harassment in fact, that most Thais assume that it doesn't exist at all.
"Complaints of sexual harassment are very few in number compared to rape," said Jadet Chaowilai, director of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation. "Because rape is a very clear violation of human rights, women understand that, so they press charges. But there are very few cases for sexual harassment."
According to Jadet, the lack of reporting or even acknowledgment of sexual harassment is rooted within one main cultural reason: patriarchy.
"It's the root of the problem," he said. "Looking at the male perspective, they've been implanted with the idea that they are higher and better than women. From family to school to even in the media, our culture sees that having many women is not wrong. It makes a person even more manly. This makes it a problem. Men see it as 'What's wrong with just joking around?', 'I'm just worried about you' and 'What's wrong with touching your arm?'.
"As for women, society has taught them to be loyal to their boyfriend or husband. No matter how much they order and yell at you. You must be able to cope with it. Women are implanted that they have to cater and understand men's every need. The fact that men sexually harass them verbally or touch their arm here or there is a situation where women don't feel like they have to come out and protect themselves. I'm not blaming the women, but it's just the patriarchal mindset that allows this to happen. The majority of the women do not like these things happening to them. It's just the thought process of 'Thai men are like this, so let them just have their way'."
So how can we let Thais understand that sexual harassment is wrong?
"One thing we must admit is if we allow men to sexually harass women, it will not stop there. We've been faced with many cases where it started out small to the point of tricking the woman into being raped. We have to let society see that if there is no punishment for sexual harassment, it can later lead to rape, which is the highest violation of human rights."
Once in a work setting, this patriarchal mindset added to an authoritative position leads men to feel almost invincible. According to Usa Lerdsrisuntad, programme director for the Foundation for Women, the lack of clear-cut rules, regulations and punishment allows the perpetrator to continue his vile acts with no consequences at all.
"What's important now is how to put measures in every institution -- especially government, private companies and educational institutions," said Usa. "Right now there are no measures and policies at all. In the past it's been extremely unclear -- like just moving the perpetrator to another section. But they have to be clear-cut. Every institution has to have a policy of their own.
"For example, if a boss sexually harasses someone, it's considered wrong and they have to be fired, or their salaries have to be cut. Every time, it's the woman who has to be moved out or has to quit her job because she's so ashamed and embarrassed. Sometimes the institution doesn't believe the words of the woman, and then she's seen in a negative light. And some people who open up get even more threats from the harasser. It discredits her, and people view the woman as wanting some certain benefits by opening up like that. There needs to be talks and adjustments in the law to have clearer punishments."
If a woman wants to protect herself or file charges, it's also a difficult task. The law against sexual harassment that's been in place since 1998 doesn't help much. Police officers require the victim to give hard evidence, which most of the time they do not have. The victim from the Ministry of Public Health, for example, had to have her colleagues help record her boss' vile acts. Even then, criminal proceedings are so slow that the perpetrator still feels guilt-free. So according to Usa and most NGOs, it's important for government institutions, private offices and educational institutions to have their own impartial measures to help victims with serious punishment towards harassers.
"Like you see clearly in America," added Jadet. "Once they're ousted they have to leave the company. They have to stop what they're doing. Thai society needs to change. Right now there are people coming out and talking about sexual harassment like Thararat. Thai society needs to support them and give them encouragement. Because the more people come out to speak, it will make the harassers stop. If you keep directing questions at the victims, sexual harassment will happen more and more. We have to question, criticise and punish the molester. If Thai society still blames the victim, it will keep happening. And so I want to ask a question to the Ministry of Public Health. The minister said the perpetrator will be punished before he retires. He's now retired. Will he ever be punished?"
Those who have been sexually harassed or know someone who has been sexually harassed can reach out to the 1300 Social Assistance Center Hotline for help. You can also reach out to the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation at 02-513-2889 during working hours on weekdays. The Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation also provides lawyer consultations.
