The cabinet approved an amendment draft of the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act on Tuesday, which increases penalties 10-fold and enhances penalties for offences against those under the age of 18.
Deputy government spokeswoman Sasikarn Wattanachan said the Social Development and Human Security Ministry proposed the bill amendment to enhance protection for domestic violence victims beyond the 2007 edition of the act.
The draft will expand the legal definition of the word "domestic violence" to cover sexual molestation, the intention to cause health and mental harm, as well as reputational harm, and a broader scope of offences compared to the 2007 edition, which covers only physical, mental, and health abuses.
Those found to commit acts of physical abuse or insults or acts of forcing or not forcing to commit illegal or immoral acts on their family members will face a maximum of six-month jail sentence and/or a 60,000 baht fine, compared to the 6,000-baht fine in the previous edition of the bill.
It will also increase penalties for committing acts of abuse on those aged below 18 and for repeat offences committed within three years after the previous offences.
"The main principle of the amended Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act is to introduce measures to protect victims of domestic violence. It will prevent the violence from reoccurring while allowing authorities to offer effective assistance to the victims," Ms Sasikarn said.
The amended Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act was approved by the Committee of the Domestic Protection and Development Promotion Act in July 2024. The draft will later be forwarded to the House for deliberation.
The ministry's 1300 hotline dealt with more than 4,100 cases in the 2023 fiscal year, compared to just under 3,000 in the previous year.
Victims of abuse are overwhelmingly women. In the 2023 fiscal year, 3,000 women reported abuse, while 1,100 men did. In 2022, there were some 2,200 women and 763 men who reported abuse.
