Jurin vows action on discrimination

The government has pledged to end gender discrimination in the workplace amid concerns that the law should be amended to enhance protection for victims.

Deputy Premier and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who chairs the committee on the promotion of gender equality, expressed the government’s commitment to gender parity for the second time since it took office.

“After 24 organisations signed the first MoU in March, we saw the progress in their implementation [of gender-friendly policies]. For example, the Chanthaburi and Pathum Thani governors announced their intention to end gender discriminatory practices. Thammasat University also allowed students to dress according to their gender identities and provided them with all-gender toilets on campus. Today, 39 agencies, including the Democrats, have signed a second MoU,” he said at an event to promote gender equality held yesterday by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

The event came after the cabinet approved a draft bill on civil partnerships earlier this month and reflected the government’s commitment to the Gender Equality Act 2015 and its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

In May, UNDP Thailand and the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development published a report on the implementation of the Gender Equality Act. Since 2015, an investigative committee on gender inequality has reviewed 41 complaints, 30 of which were filed by people from the LGBTQ community.

Kittinun Daramadhaj, the president of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand, commended the effort but called for an amendment to the law to allow not only victims but also witnesses to file reports of gender discrimination to the investigative committee.

“Anyone who witnesses unfair treatment should be capable of taking legal action, as we do with cases of domestic violence, which often involve power relations,” he said.