Every 15 minutes, a woman or child becomes a victim of violence in Thailand. And more often than not, the violence involves sexual assault.
The Public Health Ministry said there was an average of 87 cases a day. The ministry's One-Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) reported that last year 31,866 victims sought help from the centres, which are set up nationwide and mainly provide services for victims of abuse.
The numbers are alarming as they have risen from the 10-year average, which was estimated at 50 victims a day. Even more terrifying is the fact that, although there are no precise numbers available about sexual abuse cases, the OSCC reported that the most violence cases happening to people under 18 and involved sexual assault.
"It is like a cancer creeping into society. The trend is worsening," said Buppavan Angkurasee, who operates the Amnat Charoen Women's Centre, which provides counselling services those who have been sexually abused.
"It shows that some still see women and children as sex objects. This attitude has to be corrected," Ms Buppavan, who works as an activist in the northeastern provinces, told Spectrum.
Ms Buppavan has worked on many sexual assault cases, most of which involved minors aged under 15. A typical example is an ongoing case involving a 17-year-old girl who had been sexually abused by a man she had known for three years, since she was a minor. He allegedly drugged her then forced her to have sex with him.
Another case involved an elderly person in a community who had sexually abused three young girls for a year. One day a Grade 6 teacher noticed that one of the girls in the class looked different, and after talking her, the teacher discovered she had been sexually abused. The man, in his sixties, was sentenced to 60 years in jail, or 20 years for sexually assaulting each girl.
Although that case happened five years ago, Ms Buppavan said she often told people about it because it showed that justice can prevail and the perpetrator was finally convicted.
However, not every case ends with the abuser facing justice — many manage to walk free.
Ms Buppavan cited the example of another case in Amnat Charoen province where a young student accused a senior teacher of sexually assaulting her at the teacher's resort.
"We had brought in a lawyer to provide advice to the victim on how to proceed with the case. But there was pressure from the community, which asked the girl's parents not to file charges, and the case was dropped," Ms Buppavan said.
In a separate interview, Supensri Pungkoksung, the head of the Gender Equality Promotion Centre, said she had also experienced pressure from communities when the alleged perpetrators were people held in high regard.
She cited as an example an ongoing case where a respected monk in the community was alleged to have sexually abused three novices in the temple.
"When we helped the boys' parents file the charges against this monk, we ran into pressure from the community. People did not believe us," she said. "They all said the monk would not do that because he was a good person.
"Even the boys' parents were reluctant. But I told them that they had to do this to keep nurturing the religion, and they agreed."
Ms Supensri declined to disclose the location of the temple as the case is still ongoing.
Sad reality: Friends farewell Nong Kaem at a cremation ceremony in Nonthaburi. The 13-year-old was raped and murdered on an SRT train in June.
PEOPLE THEY KNOW
The majority of offenders in sexual assault cases against children are acquaintances of the victims. "You don't have to look far. More often, the perpetrators are the victim's father, relative, teacher or neighbour. There were recent cases involving adopted children," Ms Supensri said.
Some parents left their children with people they thought they knew, unaware that they put their children in the most vulnerable situation for sexual abuse.
Sujittra Suthipong, of the Women and Children Protection Foundation based in the northern province of Lamphun, said she often came across cases where a stepfather sexually assaulted his wife's daughter.
"It often happens in families with tribal mothers. For instance, Karen women tend to remarry soon after they become a widow, partly because some are financially dependent. And it turns out that the new husband does not see her daughter as his daughter, but a sex object in the house," Ms Sujittra said.
A school can also be a risky place for students. Last month, local news media reported that a 29-year-old physical education teacher at a school in Phuket was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student. The teacher denied the charge, but police were quoted as saying they had sufficient evidence to convict the teacher.
Ms Supensri said the school's dressing room, music room or even the teacher's living room can be risky places.
Unusual case: Nui, who was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of six-year-old Nong Cartoon, who was snatched near the BTS station in Bearing last December.
Earlier this year, a 14-year-old girl filed a complaint with police, claiming she had been attacked by eight other students at a school in Chon Buri, according to media reports. The victim said her attackers were trying to drag her to the teachers' residential quarters inside the school campus, which was usually vacant during the day. Fortunately, people passing by heard the girl screaming for help and rescued her from what could have been a gang rape.
Ms Sujittra also talked about a case at a school in Lamphun province where her foundation had worked with the victims to press charges against a teacher. The teacher was accused of abusing two students who were 16.
"It was a difficult trial process. The victims were intimidated by the teacher, who tried to insist that it was consensual sex," she said. Finally, the case was settled out of court when the teacher paid damages to the victims.
Shocking crime: Former SRT employee Wanchai Saengkhao was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Nong Kaem on a train from Hua Hin to Bangkok.
NO COMPROMISE
"The problem with sexual assault cases is that the defendant and even the community where the incident happened often put pressure on the victims to compromise," Ms Sujittra said.
Another case she cited was in Lamphun province when a janitor was accused of sexually abusing a Grade 6 student a few years ago. The case came to light after a teacher noticed changes in the victim's behaviour. So he talked to the girl and discovered she was being abused at the school.
The teacher informed the parents, raised the case with school authorities and contacted the foundation and asked them to pursue the case. "But we faced pressure to drop the case because some thought the incident would bring disgrace to the school and the province," she said.
"We were forced to abandon the case. The janitor quit and the victim left the school to study somewhere else. And I've never heard from her again."
The Public Health Ministry reported that in the past 10 years, from 2004-2013, the OSCC had provided services to 182,267 women and children who were victims of violence. The numbers break down to 98,211 children and 84,026 women, or 50 cases per day. The most frequent cases involving children were sexual assault, followed by violence. The offenders tended to be people the victims knew and trusted.
The most frequent cases involving women were domestic violence, followed by sexual assault. The main offenders tended to be their husbands, which accounted for 53% of the total cases involving women.
The actual number is thought to be much higher because many cases do not get reported to the OSCC or to law enforcement officers.
"Many victims decide to remain silent because they think it is not worth going through the legal hurdles," Ms Sujittra said.
Thai law considers sex with children under 15 as rape and a criminal offence, regardless of whether it is consensual. The Criminal Code says that whoever has sexual intercourse with a girl under 15 who is not his wife, whether the act is consensual or not, shall be punished with imprisonment of four to 20 years and fined 8,000 to 40,000 baht.
The law also stipulates that if the victims are under 13, the jail term is seven to 20 years and the fine is 14,000-40,000 baht. If rapists injure these young victims or murder them, the punishment can be death or life imprisonment.
"In many cases, the adults, schools or even some officers put pressure on the victims to settle the cases, even though the sexual abuse of children is a criminal offence," Ms Supensri said.
Schools and even the parents of some victims often want to sweep incidents under the carpet, thinking that any cases would bring shame to their school, family or even to their community.
Some law enforcement officers did not encourage victims to pursue cases by, albeit unintentionally, asking sensitive questions such as pressing for evidence.
For instance, in the case involving the alleged sexual abuse committed by the monk, police asked the victims to produce evidence, even though it should be the task of the police to investigate, Ms Supensri said.
"The victims are very brave to come out and tell their stories. But they are discouraged by the insensitive questions," she added.
In addition, some victims decide to drop cases because they don't want to endure the stigma and because sexual assault cases tend to take years to go through the court system.
Defendants can delay a trial if they can submit sufficient documentation, according to the requirements of the court.
Last week, a 56-year-old teacher at a school in Nakhon Ratchasima, who has been accused of raping a 14-year-old student, asked police to delay summonsing him because he had to undergo treatment for cancer.
Police involved in the case were quoted in the local media as saying they had no choice but to approve his request and delay summonsing him because he could produce a letter from a hospital certifying he was ill.
Ms Sujittra said that in Lamphun there was a sexual abuse case committed by an elderly teacher. "The court case went on for years. The case was finally settled after the offender passed away."
Ms Supensri said the longer a case was delayed, the more difficult it can become to find solid evidence to convict an offender. She cited the example of the monk who was accused of abusing the novices.
"The police officers said they were unable to collected solid evidence to back up the charge. Well, it is difficult enough to collect evidence from a girl. It is even more difficult in the case of boys, especially as time passes."
STIGMA AND ATTITUDE
Ms Sujittra and Ms Supensri share the view that the fundamental problem is the attitude of people involved in cases, especially the adults.
"People in the community often put the reputation of their society or the family before the interests of the children or the victim," Ms Sujittra said.
"This is especially the case when the offender is someone who is part of the society or the community. They want to protect the reputation of the community."
Ms Supensri said: "Our society still condones sexual violence and rape. The courts and legal procedures are often pursued from the male perspective. People put pressure on to discourage victims from fighting against abuse because they think that sexual abuse against children is not a serious crime. They do not see the problem from the children's perspective."
Even though some victims do find justice in the courts, the stigma lingers. "Most of the girls who have been abused tend to drop out of school and do not go back," Ms Sujittra said.
However, she does not have the exact numbers of how many girls dropped out of school after sexual abuse cases. But she did have some figures to use as an indication.
"In Lamphun province alone, about 5,000 students who entered Grade 7 [Mattayom 1] failed to continue their studies to finish Grade 9 [Mattayom 3]. This is despite the fact that they are of school age of around 12 to 15," she said. "We don't have the numbers of girls and boys. But when I asked people where these students have gone, people tend to say that they left school to marry."
Ms Supensri said: "It is sad that we have not provided a supportive environment for the children. We do not have the proper approach to protect their rights." n