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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.
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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.
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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.

On the one-year anniversary of a bloody confrontation between Red Shirt protesters and Thai government security forces that left scores dead and Bangkok in flames, the opposition Pheu Thai party listed 10 Red Shirt leaders among its candidates for parliament in national elections scheduled for July 3. But the controversy over Red Shirt leaders running for office was overshadowed by the party's choice for its lead candidate: Yingluck Shinawatra, who Pheu Thai hopes will become Thailand's first woman Prime Minister, should the party prevail at the polls.