Domestic violence on the rise

Domestic violence on the rise

Domestic violence has jumped by almost 50% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation.

The survey involved 1,692 participants aged over 20 living in Bangkok and its vicinity and was taken from Oct 17 to 23.

The result showed that 41.5% of interviewees had experienced more violence in their family during the pandemic than before. This was followed by 28.6% who said they were not certain if their situation had changed much.

Meanwhile, just over 15% replied that there had been no change while 14.6% said the number of violent incidents had dropped.

Jaree Srisawat, a foundation officer who organised the survey, said the information was collected from direct victims and those who had learnt about violence in families. The statistics were compared to a similar survey conducted before the pandemic.

According to the latest survey, repeat attacks happened in 75% of families, and 31.3% of respondents agreed the pandemic had caused distress in terms of their relationships with their kin. About 50% of victims decided to fight back, 33.2% agreed to talk about it, 20.1% avoided any face-to-face conversation, 11.9% did nothing and 1.4% took legal action against their partners.

"We think the judicial system should set up a mechanism to address the problem of violence in the family. It is uncompromisable issue," Ms Jaree said. Experts claim that 80% of violent incidents among family members in Thailand involve alcohol.

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