When it comes to gender inequality and violence against women, Kittipong hopes to bring about change from the grassroots level.
Kittipong Kittayarak has enjoyed a long career in the criminal justice system, having served as the secretary for justice from 2008-2014. So when he gives his take on gender equality and combating violence against women, people pay attention.
At a recent roundtable discussion with police cadets at the Royal Police Cadet Academy called “Youth Dialogue on Gender Equality”, the executive director of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) suggested using the collective effort of men from all walks of life to fight injustices against women, getting a thumbs-up from most of the male audience.
His message: creating and implementing laws is not the sole solution to eradicating this social ill — men and women also need to come together to empower women to stand up and speak out.
The TIJ executive has made strides in his efforts to increase the agency’s profile in the year since he took office. He’s done so by promoting the United Nations standards for the rights-based treatment of women and children.
“To galvanise momentum in advancing gender equality, there has to be a greater involvement by men,” Kittipong said. “Solidarity campaigns — such as the UN-initiated HeForShe and TIJ’s SpeakUp SpeakOut Campaign — encourage the present generation to bring gender-equality issues to the discussion table.”
The SpeakUp SpeakOut workshops share a knowledge and understanding of how people of both genders can fight violence against women. This is in line with the HeforShe initiative, which encourages men to stand up for women-empowerment because gender discrimination and violence impact the whole society, not just individual victims.
Speaking to the police cadets, he said law enforcement has to be developed to its full potential to address gender-related crimes, so while studying at the police academy they should acquire an understanding of the social injustices women face. This, he said, will create a more gender-sensitive generation of law-enforcement officers.
The academic admits that due to the prevailing belief in Thai society that domestic violence is a private matter, perpetrators continue to evade the law. What can make things worse is the fact that sometimes male policemen can come across as being insensitive to the needs of victims of physical or sexual violence.
“Female victims often don’t fight for justice, because they feel it’s no use. There’s no one to fight on their behalf, so they suffer in silence. Society takes an indifferent approach toward their plight, which makes the already volatile situation worse,” said Kittipong. “It’s a known fact that children who grow up in dysfunctional environments are most likely to become abusers themselves. In such cases, human rights and gender equality play a huge part in the development of both youngsters. Victims of abuse also deserve to have their rights protected. We have to think long-term by educating the present generation on this issue.”
Kittipong said the ongoing predicament involves the social, legal and the criminal-justice sectors. While Thai laws have made significant progress to protect the rights of women, people’s attitudes haven’t changed. It’s still a man’s world.
It is here that the HeForShe campaign is making a difference, by telling men it’s time they support women-empowerment because it’s the right thing to do.
In the past, women’s issues did not generate buzz, because they were considered applicable only to women.
While HeForShe has set the momentum on gender equality, SpeakUp SpeakOut, which encourages women to speak up about gender-based violence, should make a big enough stir for people to re-evaluate the importance of such issues.
“The justice system has to create an environment wherein battered women have the courage to speak up. Society has to also learn to protect them. If a larger number of men take the time to understand the injustices women endure because they have no way out, I do believe they will be more ready to step out and speak up for women. When I was in the Ministry of Justice, we had several programmes designed for schoolchildren on the aforementioned issues. We encouraged students in middle school to come up with ideas on how to reduce violence against women. A boy from a rural school in the northeast came up with the theme ‘Gentlemen of Nong Kluea’ [the name of his sub-district] to encourage young boys to take a stand against any form of violence against girls in his town.”
Getting men to participate in this endeavour is of utmost importance, he said, because a large segment of society’s decision-makers are men. Getting their support will make an unprecedented impact on society and benefit the cause of women’s rights.
However, prior to this, they should be given a solid foundation on women’s issues today.
“It’s important for men to get a proper picture of the numerous hurdles women come up against today. Violence against women can take many forms. Sexual harassment, for example, is an issue that educated men have a knowledge of, so they can speak out against it.”
Kittipong’s message is not so much about equality between men and women but about basic human rights, which shouldn’t be confused with the wider debate on gender equality.
“I believe that we have to mainstream this issue — it’s not just one person’s problem, but society’s. We have to make perpetrators accountable for their actions. The public has to see what happens to the abuser, to show that there’s justice for people who are abused, and that abuse in all forms is not tolerated in Thai society or elsewhere.”
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.