Last week, Center for Girls began training sessions for our Women for Change project sponsored by Swedish partner Diakonia. Our team, which consists of Center for Girls (CFG), the Child Rights Protection Centre (CRPC), and Khiang Rim Khong staff, and women from the pilot Women for Change project, spent three days learning about gender roles, violence against women, and the current laws in Thailand relating to these issues. We invited two experts to join the team and lead the training: Ms. Methatrakul and Mr. Luengvilai.
Ms. Saengchan Methatrakul is an advisor at Path2Health Foundation in Bangkok and led the group in discussions on gender roles, societal influence on gender, and gender-based violence. She was with the team for the first two days and encouraged the group to share their ideas and experiences with gender issues such as domestic violence, exploitation, and unfair treatment. Ms. Methatrakul introduced a case study and invited the team to brainstorm ideas on how to give aid and support to those affected by domestic violence. Ms. Methatrakul also led the project team to discuss reproductive rights and the laws that are supposed to protect women. “After the training, we all have more knowledge about gender issues. It was good to share our experiences – now the team can understand each other’s attitudes and histories,” says CFG’s Director Nunnaree Luangmoi.
Mr. Chainarong Luengvilai is a Professor of Law at Chiang Mai University and an expert on laws regarding human trafficking, domestic violence, and child protection. He arrived to train the team on the last day. In Thailand, laws are constantly changing, so it is critical to be aware of the current laws and how they relate to our team and our projects. Mr. Luengvilai gave a presentation on the current laws and how we can help people who have a problem relating to human trafficking, violence, or child abuse. Thai Volunteer Miam Monkanphai said about the training: “It was good for the team because now we know more about the law and how to protect women and children if we need to. There were some laws I never knew about before, but now I understand the current laws in Thailand that can protect me and other women.”
CFG and our Women for Change team would like to thank Ms. Methatrakul and Mr. Luengvilai for coming to Chiang Khong for the three-day training session – we learned a lot, and are very excited to begin our project and spread our new knowledge!
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