Smokers became indignant when the 2019 Family Development and Protection Act made headlines last month. According to various media outlets, reports were made saying that the new law, which will take effect next month, prohibits smoking at home. Smokers felt this unfair and were furious.
Chief of the Department of Women's Affairs and Family Development under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security Lertpanya Booranabandi said that the law, which will be implemented on Aug 20, does not ban smoking at home. Rather it aims to prevent any behaviours which can harm residents and household members.
"The law is about domestic violence, which also covers anything that threatens the health," Lertpanya said. "If someone in a house smokes so much so that it becomes harmful to the health of family members, then the authorities can take legal action against the smoker. The same goes with alcohol. For example, the father always gets drunk and stays up all night to the point that the mother and kid can't sleep, making their health worse. If a neighbour reports such a scenario to officials, the father can be sent to rehabilitation."
The recent controversy actually stems from various interpretations of Section 4 in the 2019 Family Development and Protection Act -- or FDPA, for short -- which states that domestic violence means any conduct that intends to harm or may harm life, physical and mental health, freedom and reputation of household members, coercing or dominating family members immorally in order to commit or not commit or accept any acts wrongfully.
Asst Prof Chanin Maneedam from the Law Programme of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bansomdej Chaopraya Rajabhat University, has expressed a different opinion with regard to the interpretation of the new law. He said that though smoking is a health hazard, it is impossible to force a person to not smoke at home. He also questions if there will be any household members who will report smoking to the authorities.
"We have to look at it on a case-by-case basis. If a family member reports to an official that smoking or using drugs is a health hazard, it means his action causes him or her sickness. If smoking or using drugs makes their life go downhill, it does not fall into the condition of the law. However, health damage is difficult to prove because it takes time to see the results. But if a father uses drugs and forces a child to use them too, this clearly fits the bill," Chanin said.
The FDPA -- which will be launched as a replacement to the 2007 Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act -- has upset people, especially those who advocate for human rights. In February, the new law was protested by several NGOs, including Alliance Anti Traffic, the Friend of Women Foundation, the Chumchonthai Foundation and the Labour Right Promotion Network.
Activists from NGOs argue that the FDPA is in fact supposed to protect victims rather than family institutions.
"The title of the law is misleading," said Naiyana Supapung, director of the Teeranat Foundation, which supports gender justice. "When it says Family Development and Protection Act, people tend to misunderstand that it aims to protect families. In fact, the law is for victim protection."
Naiyana explained that most domestic-violence victims who confront abusers and ask for justice are those who have been through repeated physical abuse. Most of them guiltily believe that they are one of the causes of violence. Structural violence on women has framed gender stereotyping and unequal power towards women in society.
"Most victims believe 'good women' must treat their husband right," she said. "They are expected to be responsible both at the workplace and at home. They must please their husbands' sexual desires whenever the husbands want. These put pressure on the victims. And when they decide they've had enough, they won't be perfect mothers and perfect wives anymore, and will turn to officials for help. The officials will hurt them again by telling them to protect the family by returning to the abusers."
To maintain the wife-and-mother status as well as to protect their marriages and families from being broken apart, many women are injured and, worse, murdered. The Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation collected data from 11 newspapers for domestic violence statistic in 2018. From January until July, there were 367 news items about domestic violence. From total news, 65.9% was murder cases. Around 23% was physical abuse and 11% suicide. Compared to 2016 and 2014, the year of 2018 had the highest rate of domestic violence. The report found that most abusers were men, and 94.9% of witnesses neglected to help out because abusers usually claimed it was family business.
As a law lecturer, Chanin said he didn't see much difference between the 2007 Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act and the soon-to-be-implemented FDPA. The main difference between these two laws is that the FDPA empowers officials who are from the Bureau of Social Development and Human Security (BSDHS) upcountry and the Department of Women's Affairs and Family Development (DWAFD) in Bangkok.
"The law allows the BSDHS and DWAFD to get involved in case of domestic violence," said Chanin. "If a father beats up his kid, under criminal law, he will be in jail and the kid may have to live by himself. But according to the new law, the officials will have a measure to stop the father from hurting his child. He has to meet officials during a probationary period. If he finally comes clean, a court may not punish him."
Despite the controversy, Naiyana said the new law will allow victims to have more choices: to report to either the Social Assistance Center or Family Protection Center or Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. A report can be done by conversation or letter or telephone or e-mail or others.
"Instead of going to a police station and facing the authorities, who don't really understand victims who have experienced domestic abuse, victims can go to the said organisations and ask for protections."
However, according to Chanin, the new law is still unclear in terms of the role of the BSDHS and DWAFD's officers.
Naiyana agrees there are still weaknesses in the new law that have stirred some debate among human-rights and gender activists.
"First, the title must be changed to the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act and the law must consider victims the priority. Victims should be able to access any related services conveniently. The law must specify a code of conduct for officials, so they can treat victims right. Officials must listen to victims as to whether they want to stay or leave their families and respect their decisions. Don't make decisions for them. And if victims are powerless because of their low socioeconomic status, officials should empower them to become self-reliant."
In all, domestic violence is a crime that involves family members. But is it possible to prevent it?
Naiyana suggested that first and foremost, people must be educated about human dignity in families and schools.
"A husband and a wife must respect each other," she suggested. "Sex must be consensual. Women have been taught that they must please men. This is a huge misunderstanding among Thais which leads to other kinds of violence."
