Thailand

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The National Legislative Assembly of Thailand approved a new law last week that criminalizes marital rape. Previously, rape law could not be used to prosecute a husband who forced sex on his wife. This new law carries a monetary fine (40,000 baht, or $1,156) and up to 20 years in jail for offenders.
To read the full article, please visit the Feminist Majority's Website.

When women call for gender sensitivity in state policies, the male-dominated decision makers almost always respond that it is not necessary because men and women are the same.
To read the full article, please visit Bangkok Post Website.

Despite an increase in the number of female election candidates, women's rights advocates are still unhappy with the relatively small proportion of women running in the general election. Sutheera Vijitranond, chairwoman of the Association of the Promotion of the Status of Women, said only 20% of candidates contesting both the proportional representation, or party list, vote and constituency system were women.
To read the full article, please visit the Bangkok Post's Website.

Muslim women in Thailand's insurgency-plagued southern region face problems of discrimination under state and religious law, as well as cultural norms, that are exceedingly difficult to address, a prominent human rights activist told TrustLaw.

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Women have gradually been elected to local governments in the Asia-Pacific area but they have yet to be installed as leaders in South East Asia, a joint report released on the eve of the 100th commemoration of International Women's Days states. The 48-page report said more countries in Asia and the Pacific than ever before have elected women to local governments and national parliaments, but women in South East Asia have yet to be achieved leadership positions.

With her telegenic good looks and powerful political support, Yingluck Shinawatra is shaking up Thailand's first parliamentary election since a wave of political violence last year. The 43-year-old businesswoman, sister of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has vaulted swiftly into front runner status in the July 3 vote, tapping support in the rural north and northeast heartland where her brother remains a populist hero five years after he was toppled in a coup.

After six prime ministers in six years of sometimes bloody political upheaval, Thais might be excused for shrugging their shoulders about voting in number seven. But this time there's one big difference. The new prime minister will be a woman, the first to hold the position in Thailand.