CONSEJO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS - Informe A HRC 5945 Add 2

GE.25-07081 (S) 040625 040625 Consejo de Derechos Humanos 59º período de sesiones 16 de junio a 11 de julio de 2025 Tema 3 de la agenda Promoción y protección de todos los derechos humanos, civiles, políticos, económicos, sociales y culturales, incluido el derecho al desarrollo Visita a Tailandia Informe del Grupo de Trabajo sobre la discriminación contra las mujeres y las niñas Resumen El Grupo de Trabajo sobre la discriminación contra las mujeres y las niñas visitó Tailandia del 2 al 13 de diciembre de 2024. En el presente informe, el Grupo de Trabajo evalúa la situación de los derechos humanos de las mujeres y las niñas y señala los logros, los retos y las vías de progreso. Esta evaluación se realiza en el contexto del marco jurídico, institucional y de políticas con que actualmente cuenta el país para promover la igualdad de género y la participación de la mujer en la vida familiar, económica, social, política y pública, así como los esfuerzos para prevenir la violencia de género contra las mujeres y las niñas. El Grupo de Trabajo formula recomendaciones para seguir avanzando en la eliminación de la discriminación y en la promoción de la igualdad de género.

El resumen del presente informe se distribuye en todos los idiomas oficiales. El informe completo, que figura en el anexo, se distribuye únicamente en inglés. Se acordó publicar este documento tras la fecha prevista debido a circunstancias que escapan al control de quien lo presenta.

Naciones Unidas A/HRC/59/45/Add.2

Asamblea General Distr. general 19 de mayo de 2025 Español

control de quien lo presenta.

Naciones Unidas A/HRC/59/45/Add.2

Asamblea General Distr. general 19 de mayo de 2025

Español Original: inglésA/HRC/59/45/Add.2

2 GE.25-07081 Anexo Informe del Grupo de Trab ajo sobre la discriminación contra las mujeres y las niñas sobre su visita a Tailandia

I. Introduction

A. Visit

1. The Working Group, represented by Ivana Krsti ć and Haina Lu, visited Thailand from 2 to 13 December 2024, at the invitation of the Government. The Working Group expresses its appreciation to the Government for its cooperation and fruitful exchanges during the visit.

2. The experts met with representatives of central and local authorities, parliamentarians, international organizations, civil society and women and girls in Bangkok, Mae Sot, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai. In Bangkok, the experts met with representatives of the following Ministries: Foreign Affairs, Social Development and Human Security, Public Health, Education, Justice, Interior, Defence, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Natural Resources and Environment, Tourism and Sports, Culture, Finance, Commerce, Digital Economy and Society, Industry and Labour. They also met with representatives of the Office of the Judiciary, the Office of the Attorney General, the Royal Thai Army, the Internal Security Operations Command, the National Security Council, the Royal Thai Police, the Committee on the Determination of Unfair Gender Determination, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Office of the Civil Service Commission, the National Statistical Office and the National Human Rights Commission. In addition, the experts visited a one-stop crisis centre, the Central Women’s Correctional Institution, the Bang Khen Mother and Child Immigration Detention Centre and the Rajvithi Home for Girls. In Mae Sot, the experts visited the Mae Sot General Hospital, a public school and a migrant learning centre. In Hat Yai, they visited the Songkhla Women’s Correctional Institution and in Chiang

Mother and Child Immigration Detention Centre and the Rajvithi Home for Girls. In Mae Sot, the experts visited the Mae Sot General Hospital, a public school and a migrant learning centre. In Hat Yai, they visited the Songkhla Women’s Correctional Institution and in Chiang Mai, they visited a privately-run shelter for child victims of trafficking in persons. The Working Group expresses its sincere appreciation to all interlocutors for their engagement and valuable input.

3. The experts also met with representatives of the United Nations country team in Bangkok and of civil society in the four cities. The Working Group would like to thank the women and girl human rights defenders and activists who shared their insightful testimonies and experiences, including those who travelled from the southern border provinces and the northern provinces to meet with the Working Group.

B. Context

4. Thailand is an ethnically diverse country located in the centre of mainland South-East Asia, with a population of around 71.8 million. It is an upper-middle income country, with the second largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The country has achieved remarkable progress in reducing poverty from 58 per cent in 1990 to 3.41 per cent in 2023, with women’s economic empowerment playing a key role in its development, although income inequality remains high.

5. Thailand ranked sixty-fifth out of 146 countries in the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, having risen from seventy-fourth in 2023. At the regional level, Thailand ranks fifth out of 18 countries in gender equality and has achieved significant strides in women’s economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival. However, women’s political representation remains a challenge, with consistent underrepresentation in the national parliament and in local government.

6. The Working Group’s visit came at a critical juncture as Thailand took several positive steps towards safeguarding human rights and gender equality. For example, in September 2024, Thailand became the first country in South-East Asia to legalize same-sexA/HRC/59/45/Add.2

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positive steps towards safeguarding human rights and gender equality. For example, in September 2024, Thailand became the first country in South-East Asia to legalize same-sexA/HRC/59/45/Add.2 GE.25-07081 3 marriage, with the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act. Furthermore, in October 2024, the Cabinet approved an accelerated pathway toward permanent residency and nationality for approximately half a million stateless persons, many of whom are women and girls. Several bills concerning women’s rights have also been pending in the parliament, such as the antidiscrimination act, the sexual harassment act and the gender recognition act.

7. Despite promising developments, major challenges remain, with widespread genderbased violence, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence, limited access to justice and attacks against women politicians and human rights defenders, particularly those working on civic space, gender equality, LGBTIQ+ and environmental issues. In addition, particular groups of women and girls, such as those in the southern border provinces, migrants and refugees, Indigenous and ethnic minorities, members of the LBTIQ+ community, persons with disabilities, sex workers and women who have been deprived of their liberty face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

II. Legal, policy and in stitutional frameworks

A. Ratification of international in struments and cooperation with human rights mechanisms

8. Thailand has ratified nearly all the core United Nations human rights instruments and is a State Party to several conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), including the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). Thailand became a State Party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985 and to its Optional Protocol in 2000.

9. However, Thailand has yet to accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Optional Protocol

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1985 and to its Optional Protocol in 2000.

9. However, Thailand has yet to accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967. Furthermore, the Government has not yet ratified the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) or the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143).

B. Domestic legal and institutional framework

10. The Constitution of Thailand B.E. 2560 (2017) guarantees equality between men and women and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Notably, section 71 of the Constitution also establishes the State’s commitment to gender-responsive budgeting.

11. Thailand has various legislative and institutional frameworks for promoting gender equality, including the Gender Equality Act of 2015, the Ministerial Regulation on the Promotion and Coordination of Women’s Affairs, the Women’s Development Strategy 2023–2027, the National Strategy 2018–2037 and the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2023–2027, among others. Thailand has also established a National Committee on the Policy and Strategy for the Advancement of Women under the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as the Committee for the Promotion of Gender Equality and the

Committee on Unfair Gender Discrimination Complaints.

12. The Gender Equality Act is the main legislation in Thailand that prohibits discrimination based on sex and gender. The law defines unjust gender discrimination as any act or omission that unfairly causes division, excludes or limits one’s rightful benefits directly or indirectly on the grounds that one is male, female or expresses oneself differently from one’s sex assigned at birth. While the Act protects a broad range of women and girls,

act or omission that unfairly causes division, excludes or limits one’s rightful benefits directly or indirectly on the grounds that one is male, female or expresses oneself differently from one’s sex assigned at birth. While the Act protects a broad range of women and girls, including LBTIQ+ women and girls, section 17, paragraph 2, grants exemptions for gender-A/HRC/59/45/Add.2 4 GE.25-07081 based discrimination based on religious principles or national security, leaving women and girls in the southern border provinces outside the protection of the law.

13. The Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development, under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, serves as the national-level coordinating agency on gender equality. The Working Group found that, despite the increase in budget allocations for 2024, the country’s national women’s machinery remains underfunded and understaffed, which undermines efforts to promote gender equality. There is also a lack of implementation and understanding of gender-responsive budgeting across the ministries, despite the requirement under the Constitution.

14. The Working Group welcomes the Women’s Development Strategy 2023–2027, which prioritizes the development of women’s human capital, elimination of violence against women, women’s participation in decision-making, and public engagement to foster gender equality. These priorities should be mainstreamed with sufficient resources at both the national and the local levels, including through the Chief Gender Equality Officers and Gender Focal Points in each ministry and department, who should be equipped with the authority, capacity and training to substantively implement these priorities in their respective offices.

15. The Working Group notes with appreciation the awareness-raising activities of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, including developing a curriculum for human rights education. It hopes that the Commission can step up its protection mandate, especially in relation to women human rights defenders and unannounced visits to places of detention. The independence of the Commission should be strengthened and safeguarded and its powers to enforce recommendations – which were weakened through the most recent Constitutional amendment – should be reinstated.

III. Public and political life

A. Elected and appointed positions

detention. The independence of the Commission should be strengthened and safeguarded and its powers to enforce recommendations – which were weakened through the most recent Constitutional amendment – should be reinstated.

III. Public and political life

A. Elected and appointed positions

16. According to government data, 1 women are underrepresented in elected office in Thailand, both at the local and the national levels. At the national level, 19.2 per cent of parliamentarians, 10.4 per cent of senators and 11.4 per cent of House committee chairpersons are women, as are 22 per cent of Cabinet members, only 20 per cent of whom

(four women) are ministers. At the local level, 7.1 per cent of chief executives of provincial administrative organizations, 10.04 per cent of mayors and 9.31 per cent of chief executives of subdistrict administrative organizations are women. Furthermore, only 37 per cent of ambassadors are women. The Working Group urges the Government to increase the representation of women at the highest levels of public life, given that gender parity (50:50) is a key indicator of gender equality.2

17. While section 90 of the Constitution of Thailand specifies that political parties, in sending a candidate for election on a party list basis, must take into consideration candidates from different regions and ensure gender equality, there is no formal gender quota for women in politics. Although some political parties have voluntarily adopted gender quotas, this has failed to systematically address the consistently lagging representation of women in politics.

18. The Working Group is seriously concerned about reports that women politicians are often targets of gender-based harassment and violence, particularly online, and that sexual remarks, defamation, violations of privacy, intimidation, threats and hate speech are commonplace for them. All acts that suppress women’s voices in politics must be held to account and women politicians must be protected from all forms of violence.

1 CEDAW/C/THA/6-7. 2 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 4, and Committee

account and women politicians must be protected from all forms of violence.

1 CEDAW/C/THA/6-7. 2 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 4, and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendations No. 40 (2024) on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems and No. 25 (2004) on temporary special measures.A/HRC/59/45/Add.2 GE.25-07081 5

B. Justice sector

19. While there is growing representation of women in various parts of the justice sector, women remain underrepresented in the judiciary and in law enforcement, particularly in leadership roles. According to government data, in 2021, 9.54 per cent of police officers, 28.73 per cent of public prosecutors and 35.9 per cent of judges were women. In the Royal Thai Police, 17.5 per cent of police officers and only 7 deputy commissioners and 18 commanders were women.

20. The Working Group expresses strong regret about the 2018 decision of the Royal Police Cadet Academy, the only police institution in Thailand to produce commissioned police officers, to require the completion of a pre-cadet academy, which is open only to boys.

This requirement, which effectively banned women from enrolling in the Academy, is a clear manifestation of gender discrimination and a dangerous precedent that reinforces negative gender stereotypes of women being unfit to work as police officers. While other pathways remain for women to become police officers, the ban has resulted in women missing out on valuable networking and career opportunities, lowering their chance of entering and advancing in the profession. The Working Group therefore strongly urges the Academy to revoke the ban and encourages the Government to expand pathways for women to enter and advance within the justice sector.

C. Women and girl human rights defenders

21. Thailand has a vibrant civil society in which women human rights defenders have played a key role in advocating for democracy, gender equality, environmental protection,

revoke the ban and encourages the Government to expand pathways for women to enter and advance within the justice sector.

C. Women and girl human rights defenders

21. Thailand has a vibrant civil society in which women human rights defenders have played a key role in advocating for democracy, gender equality, environmental protection, land rights and LGBTIQ+ issues, among others. Yet women human rights defenders, similar to women politicians, routinely face gender-based violence both offline and online, and there are no laws that ban hate speech or hate crimes.

22. Many women activists, including students and teenage girls, have reportedly faced mistreatment from the authorities while participating in demonstrations and peaceful pro-democracy protests. Since 2020, several of them have faced arrest and charges under sections 112 and 116 of the Penal Code, and have been interrogated and placed in pretrial detention. Even after their release on bail, some have been required to abide by conditions, such as wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, curfews and travel restrictions, despite not having faced trial. Furthermore, several of them have reportedly been targeted by State-sanctioned Pegasus spyware on their personal devices, compromising their private information and facing surveillance.

23. Women human rights defenders who have been sentenced with imprisonment have reportedly faced severe financial hardship, difficulty caring for their family members, including young children, and deteriorating health conditions. The Working Group expresses serious concern about the charges brought against at least 470 women human rights defenders for participating in pro-democracy activities since July 2020. It urges the Government to refrain from suppressing their freedom of expression and assembly and to ensure their protection, in accordance with international human rights standards.

24. In the digital space, women human rights defenders have faced online harassment, intimidation and hate speech, including doxing, rape threats and sharing of non-consensual photographs. The Working Group was told that, since they are regarded as subverting the stereotypical perceptions of women in Thai society as being reserved and demure, women human rights defenders face gendered stigmatization and are labelled as “aggressive” or

photographs. The Working Group was told that, since they are regarded as subverting the stereotypical perceptions of women in Thai society as being reserved and demure, women human rights defenders face gendered stigmatization and are labelled as “aggressive” or “bad” for speaking out on political and human rights issues. Some have also reportedly been called “prostitutes” by opponents in an effort to delegitimize their advocacy.

25. Furthermore, several women human rights defenders reported being targets of judicial harassment through strategic lawsuits against public participation initiated by companies, private individuals and State authorities. The consequences of such lawsuits, even if resolved in favour of the women human rights defenders, are devastating, due to the protracted and expensive nature of litigation, as legal aid is often not available or is insufficient to properly defend their cases.A/HRC/59/45/Add.2

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26. The Working Group is also concerned that the recent draft law on associations and foundations, proposed by the Ministry of Interior in 2024, may allow for the undue targeting of women-led, LGBTIQ+ and Indigenous organizations. The draft law would reportedly require all associations and foundations to register with the Ministry, with criminal penalties for failure to do so, and to disclose foreign funding. Furthermore, it would give the Ministry the authority to dissolve organizations on arbitrary grounds, such as being harmful to “public order” or “public morality”. The experts urge Thailand to ensure that these concerns do not materialize and to foster an enabling environment for civil society organizations.

IV. Economic and social life

A. Women’s participation in the labour force and entrepreneurship

27. Thailand has made notable strides in its legal and policy framework to empower

women economically. The Government has enacted the Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562 (2019), which requires employers to provide equal pay for work of equal value. The Government has also instituted policies for the protection of domestic workers, including Ministerial Regulation 15, which extended entitlements to minimum wage, overtime pay and maternity leave to domestic workers, as well as protection from discrimination, prohibition

2562 (2019), which requires employers to provide equal pay for work of equal value. The Government has also instituted policies for the protection of domestic workers, including Ministerial Regulation 15, which extended entitlements to minimum wage, overtime pay and maternity leave to domestic workers, as well as protection from discrimination, prohibition of dismissal due to pregnancy and working hour limitations.

28. The labour force participation rate for women is 80.5 per cent, compared with 94 per cent for men. Despite the existence of equal pay laws, women’s wages still lag behind those of men by 10.94 per cent and the ratio of business ownership is higher among men (60 per cent) than women (40 per cent). According to the Thai National Statistical Office, the percentage of women executives in both the public and the private sectors was 36.66 per cent in 2024 and women represent approximately 20 per cent of the directors and board members of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

29. Nearly half of the women in the labour force work in the informal sector, often as domestic workers, home-based workers, street vendors and agricultural workers. The Working Group encourages the Government to continue expanding pathways to formal work for women, while increasing protections for those in the informal sectors.

30. Gendered expectations regarding paid and unpaid care work considerably hamper women from participating equally in the workplace. According to the World Bank, women in Thailand spend 3.2 times as much time on unpaid domestic and care work than men.3

Research conducted by the United Nations Development Programme in 2019 indicates that women’s unpaid care work in Thailand constituted approximately 4.2 per cent of gross domestic product.4

31. With the ageing society in Thailand, disproportionate care work by women is likely to further affect women’s right to equal employment in the future. Moreover, the disparity in maternity and paternity leave policies further reinforces the gendered expectation of childcare in Thailand. While the Working Group welcomes the extension of paid maternity leave in the private sector to 98 days, it regrets that paternity leave is only 15 days and is guaranteed only in the public sector.

maternity and paternity leave policies further reinforces the gendered expectation of childcare in Thailand. While the Working Group welcomes the extension of paid maternity leave in the private sector to 98 days, it regrets that paternity leave is only 15 days and is guaranteed only in the public sector.

32. The Working Group welcomes the fact that the Government is partnering with several organizations to launch a campaign called “Housework is everyone’s responsibility, both genders can do it”. The experts encourage Thailand to expand its efforts to change gendered perceptions of care work, while increasing public investment in care and support services for children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

3 See https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/economies/thailand. 4 United Nations Development Programme, “Thai women’s unpaid care and domestic work and the impact on decent employment” (Bangkok, 2022), p. 28.A/HRC/59/45/Add.2 GE.25-07081 7

B. Education

33. The Government provides 12 years of free basic education in public schools, in addition to 3 years of free pre-primary schooling. Education is compulsory up to the ninth grade. Nearly all children in Thailand complete primary education and 94 per cent of girls complete lower secondary education, compared to 85 per cent of boys. Some 73 per cent of girls complete upper secondary education, in contrast to 64 per cent of boys, and 48 per cent of women complete at least two years of tertiary education, as opposed to 33 per cent of men.

Nevertheless, women remain underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, although Thailand has a higher percentage of female researchers in those four fields than other countries in Asia and the Pacific and has provided scholarships to promote equal educational opportunities in those fields since 1984.

34. The Working Group commends Thailand for achieving gender parity in school enrolment, with girls outperforming boys in completion rates in secondary school and tertiary education. Nevertheless, the experts remain concerned that the overall educational achievement of Thai children has been declining over the past decade.5 The Working Group

34. The Working Group commends Thailand for achieving gender parity in school enrolment, with girls outperforming boys in completion rates in secondary school and tertiary education. Nevertheless, the experts remain concerned that the overall educational achievement of Thai children has been declining over the past decade.5 The Working Group therefore encourages the Government to redouble its efforts to increase the quality of education available, ensuring that every child reaches their full potential.

35. Access to education remains a challenge for rural, ethnic minority, low-income, migrant, stateless and refugee women and girls. Girls without birth registration and identity documents reportedly have difficulty enrolling in public schools. Completion rates for upper secondary school and beyond are noticeably lower for girls from low-income and rural areas, where persistent teacher shortages have resulted in a lower quality of education. School dropouts are linked to early pregnancy, child marriage and economic insecurities, and result in further marginalizing girls and limiting their future opportunities.

36. According to the Government, Thailand has incorporated sexuality and gender education in textbooks used in primary and secondary schools. The Ministry of Education has also conducted reviews of school curricula to ensure gender sensitivity and in 2019, it launched an online programme for the professional development of teachers in facilitating sexuality education. However, the Working Group was also informed that sexuality education is still a sensitive subject in many schools and that the content covered is limited.

V. Family and cultural life

37. Patriarchal norms and gender stereotypes affect the lives of women and girls in Thailand in multifaceted ways, starting within the family. Lingering traditional attitudes in Thai society still consider women to be weak, indecisive, emotional, dependent and less productive than men. The Working Group reminds Thailand of its obligation under article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women to eliminate discriminatory gender stereotypes and norms.

38. Marriage and family relations are governed by the Civil and Commercial Code. The Working Group notes with appreciation that under the Marriage Equality Act, which came

all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women to eliminate discriminatory gender stereotypes and norms.

38. Marriage and family relations are governed by the Civil and Commercial Code. The Working Group notes with appreciation that under the Marriage Equality Act, which came into effect in January 2025, the minimum age of marriage has been raised to 18. However, marriage before the age of 18 may nonetheless be permitted with court authorization and individuals over 18 but under 20 must obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian to marry. Furthermore, in the southern border provinces, where Islamic law applies, marriage under the age of 17 may still be authorized with the permission of parents and the Islamic committee.

39. The Working Group expresses regret that child marriage continues to take place in Thailand, particularly in rural and low-income areas. Seventeen per cent of women in Thailand aged between 20 and 24 years old report entering a marriage or a union before the

5 See https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/pisa-2022-results-volume-i-and-ii-country-notes_ed6fbcc5en/thailand_6138f4af-en.html.A/HRC/59/45/Add.2 8 GE.25-07081 age of 18, and 5.5 per cent do so before the age of 15. In contrast, only 6.6 per cent of boys marry before the age of 18.

40. The Working Group notes that polygamy continues to be practised in the southern border provinces. According to data from 2022, 1.4 per cent of women aged between 15 and 49 years were in a polygamous union. The experts encourage the Government to eliminate this harmful practice, which has grave consequences on the health, well-being and socioeconomic opportunities of women and children, and communities as a whole.6

41. Under the Civil and Commercial Code, women and men generally have an equal