Silent sins exposed

Regarding 71% of women and girls with afflictions who are sexually mistreated do not have access to the particular justice system.

Most of their cases are held quiet or resolved because perpetrators are people in their families or people they will trust, according to research on “Violence against Women and Kids with Disabilities”.

The research was lately reviewed. It was backed by Thai Wellness Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), Social Equality Promotion Foundation and Organization to Empower the potential for Women with Disabilities.

Specialist Thipapsorn Siwathorn mentioned the information is based on fifty-one sexual abuse instances collected from 31 provinces from September last year to January this year.

“Most of the wrongdoers are close to the sufferers such as a father, the grandfather, a brother, a relative or a neighborhood leader.

“Most of the approaches occurred in victims’ houses, places which are supposed to be safe for women and children, ” she said.

Only 29% of the victims filed complaints against their particular offenders, of whom only 27% had been sentenced by court while the rest failed to make any progress.

The lady said 71% from the victims chose to stay quiet.

The reasons given consist of that their families failed to want to file a case (55%), they achieved a settlement with offenders (30%) while some sufferers were afraid or felt ashamed plus did not want to pursue the matter (5%).

Ms Thipapsorn also presented a few examples of sexual violence involving women along with disabilities who decided to file cases.

One case happened in a northeastern province to a 15-year-old girl who has an intellectual disorder.

Her mothers and fathers separated and she has been left with the girl father who was at all times drunk and occasionally took drugs.

She had been raped by the father but no one knew about the abuse until her neighbours told her teacher. They often noticed the girl crying within pain at night.

Since the gal could not communicate nicely with others, the teacher tried to discover what happened to her simply by using a doll.

She played out there what happened to her by using the doll rather than spoken description. That resulted in the arrest of the father.

Another case was an 18-year-old lady with disability within the North. She has been sexually assaulted each time a village headman put his fingers into her vagina whenever she was 15 years old.

Her mother struggled for her until the courtroom handed down a prison sentence but the prison term was hanging.

Another case happened to some 46-year-old woman with a hearing impairment. The lady was repeatedly raped by several guys from a young age.

Ms Thipapsorn said the woman was initially raped by her older brother and brother’s friends when she was only five.

When she was 11 years old, she has been raped by certainly one of her friends and a teacher.

When she has been 22, she was raped by her colleagues and by the girl employer. When the girl was 24, the girl killed her employer and was sent to jail.

Fast forward in order to last year when she was out of prison and now 45 years of age. She was raped by a male leader of an hearing-impaired team who lured the girl to join a hands language course.

She filed a case against the guy. The Criminal Courtroom handed him a three-year jail phrase, suspended.

Alisa Siwathorn, another researcher, found a few bizarre beliefs also lead to sexual mistreatment.

The lady said there was a case in a remote area in the Northeast where a mother brought the girl disabled daughter to participate a weird wedding ceremony every week.

She believed that will by having male devotees engaged in sexual intercourse with her daughter, it could heal her young one’s disability.

“There are more situations like this where locals believe in some strange cults that result in sexual abuse in order to women and girls along with disabilities, ” she said.

With limitations to their physical abilities, it was hard for them to look for justice themselves, the girl said.

Their disabilities can limit their ability to receive information or even communicate to others about what happened for them.

The justice system, the girl said, must be adjusted to make it accessible to any or all people with disabilities to avoid the cycle of violence.

Saowalak Thongkuay, a part of committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Asia-Pacific Development Focus on Disability, said most victims do not get their cases in order to court because they do not have the necessary legal understanding.

Furthermore, about 90% associated with wrongdoers are family members, so other people of their families frequently resist filing an instance, she said.

“Women along with disabilities are human being like anyone else but most of them are treated as if their living is not important, ” she said.

Lawyer Arunsri Meewongtham said helping victims with conversation or intellectual afflictions was difficult since sometimes the attorney is not sure if the victims truly understand questions or when they can follow lawful terms.

“Despite the complicated process, it are unable to compare with the pain from sexual violence that ladies with disabilities face so every party should join hands to provide justice to them, ” said Microsoft Arunsri.

Patcharee Arayakul, long lasting secretary of the Ministry of Social Growth and Human Protection, said the ministry will work with all industries to ensure the justice strategy is accessible to all plus wrongs are righted.

Wrongdoers, no matter what their partnership to the victim, should be punished, she mentioned.

The Departments of Ladies Affairs and Loved ones Development and Empowerment of Persons along with Disabilities will provide legal support to handicapped people who fall sufferer to abuse as the ministry will raise more awareness about their rights.

“We should encourage victims to get the courage and understand that they will not fight by yourself as we support them.

“We will fight with them to the end of the judicial process, ” stated Ms Patcharee.