Bangkok, 9 April 2013 – The launch of Thailand’s pioneering IT-equipped One Stop Crisis Centre by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reinforces the continuing efforts to prevent and protect against violence against women and girls after Thailand joined UN Women on its newest global initiative COMMIT.
The national initiative provides immediate social assistance to children, women, elderly and persons with disabilities who confront problems of human trafficking, gender-based violence, child labour and teenage pregnancy.
The One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) initiative includes a Hotline managed by trained staff, a network of 22,000 crisis centers around the country and 1,300 mobile units to access nationwide communities. Administered by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the OSCC functions will include a computerized database which allow for the collection of information on the use of the OSCC to ensure improvements in responsiveness and effectiveness of the Centers.
“The Government has put gender equality at the heart of policies and planning,” said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, at the launch of the OSCC. “The OSCC is the symbol of our national commitment to make the social support system work for people of all sexes and ages,” she says.
On the International Women’s Day this year, Thailand joined UN Women on its newest global initiative “COMMIT” to end violence against women and girls, confirming as the first ASEAN country readiness to tackle the world’s worst pandemic.
In support of COMMIT, the latest global initiative of UN Women calling on Governments everywhere to commit to end violence against women and girls, Thailand shows its will to reinforce the national efforts to protect women’s rights to live free of violence.
UN Women Representative Roberta Clarke attended the launch together with government ministers, 700 government staff, civil society organizations, women’s NGOs as well as diplomatic corps.
| UN Women: • 44% of women in Thailand in 2005 reported having experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner. 47% of women in rural Thailand reported experiencing sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner. More than 7 in 10 women in rural Thailand agreed that there are reasons that justify a man beating his wife. Only 20% of physically abused women in Bangkok and 10% in Nakhonsawan province had ever turned to formal services (health, police, religious or local leaders, etc.) for help. Intimate partner transmission of HIV in Thailand is approximately 36% and women report limited power to negotiate safe sex and that the main reason for non-condom use is refusal by men. • The 2009 data from the National Survey on Reproductive Health reveals that married women aged 15-19 suffered violence from their husbands twice as much as women from older age groups and the majority of them had education below secondary level. About 10-20% of young people also reported having experienced physical or sexual violence at some time in their life. • The One Stop Crisis Center for victims of violence in all provincial hospitals and in district hospitals is regarded as a good practice in service delivery. Despite existing response services, multi-sectoral coordination mechanisms remain a challenge. |
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