Women wear face masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus in Bangkok on March 26, 2020.
Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

By Ana Salvá
October 26, 2020

Recently, a woman reported to the police in Thailand that her 14-year-old granddaughter had been repeatedly raped over more than a year at a government-run school..

In Thailand, punishments for rape are harsher than in many other countries. Convicted sex offenders can be sentenced to life imprisonment or death in the case of fatal rapes, for instance. But most cases go unpunished or end in reduced sentences when offenders cooperate with the police.

According to Singhakowinta, the basic issue is that sex crimes are a structural problem, and to a certain degree, a “gendered problem.”

“The alarming statistics on the one hand point to the moral decline in society, and on the other, they expose the cultural objectification and fetishization of female and youth bodies as objects of desire in Thailand,” he explained.

The traditional values of the Thai family play an important role in this situation, as they emphasize a clear division between public and private affairs, encouraging women to remain silent about problems at home and with their partners in order to maintain the “honor” of the family.

However, although the police have more power to act than before, they remain reluctant to intervene because while laws may have changed, attitudes have not.

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