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กระจกน้อยบ่งบอกสายตา

เคยมั้ย

เวลาเรานั่งรถโดยสารสาธารณะ ไม่ว่าจะเป็น รถแท็กซี่ วินมอเตอร์ไซต์ รถเมล์ ฯลฯ มักมีสายตาแปลกๆ มองมาที่เรา แต่บางครั้งเราก็ไม่อาจรู้ว่า สายตาคู่นั้นกำลังคิดอะไรอยู่ อาจมองว่าเราน่ารัก หรือ กำลังลวนลามเราผ่านสายตากันนะ

ทุกที่ ทุกยานพาหนะล้วนเสี่ยงถูกลวนลามได้ทั้งสิ้น ไม่ว่าจะด้วยทางสายตา วาจาคำพูด หรือทางร่างกายก็ตาม

แม้กระทั่งการนั่งวินมอเตอร์ไซต์ กับ เบาะรถที่แสนจะลื่น เบรคทีตัวแทบจะแนบชิดสิงร่างพี่วินกันเลยทีเดียว บางครั้งอาจเป็นเหตุสุดวิสัย และบางครั้งก็อาจเจตนาจงใจ โดยเฉพาะน้องๆ ผู้หญิงก็เสี่ยงที่หน้าอกหน้าใจจะไปชนกับหลังพี่วินได้ อาจทำให้น้องๆ รู้สึกไม่ปลอดภัย ที่เรียกได้ว่าก็เป็นการลวนลามทางเพศเราทางหนึ่งเช่นกัน

หรือในกรณีที่นั่งรถเมล์ ที่มีคนเยอะๆ ก็เสี่ยงที่จะถูกลวนลามจากการแอบแตะสัมผัสร่างกาย หรือ แอบถ่ายคลิป และสำหรับกรณีเรานั่งแท็กซี่ กระจกน้อยที่คนขับรถใช้มองหลัง ก็อาจเสี่ยงที่จะถูกแอบมอง เผลอชวนคุยเรื่องที่ส่อเสียดทางเพศ รวมถึงการถูกนำพาไปที่อื่น ที่จะเสี่ยงต่อเหตุการณ์​ในการแสวงหาผลประโยชน์ทางเพศ ข่มขืน ดังที่เราสามารถเห็นได้ตามข่าวต่างๆ

แต่ก็ไม่ได้เหมารวมว่าทุกคนที่ประกอบอาชีพขับรถโดยสารสาธารณะจะไม่ดีไปทั้งหมด ทุกคน ทุกอาชีพ ทุกพื้นที่ ล้วนมีทั้งคนดีและไม่ดีปะปนกันไปบนสังคมที่มีความหลากหลายนี้ แต่จะดีกว่าไหม หากน้องๆ ทุกคนรู้จักเตรียมตัวถึงวิธีป้องกันตัวเอง เพื่อหลีกเลี่ยงไม่เกิดเหตุการณ์เหล่านั้น หรือ หากเกิดเหตุการณ์เหล่านั้น เราก็สามารถเข้าถึงความช่วยเหลือได้ทัน

พอน้องๆ ขึ้นรถปุ๊ป พี่ๆ สายเด็กคิดว่า น้องๆ ควรถ่ายป้ายทะเบียนรถคันนั้นๆ ไว้ด้วย แล้วส่งให้คนในครอบครัว เพื่อน หรือคนที่เราไว้ใจ รวมถึงบอกถึงจุดหมายที่เราจะไป หากเกิดเหตุไม่ชอบมาพากลให้สามารถติดต่อตำรวจได้เลยทันที

น้องๆ คนไหนเคยผ่านสถานการณ์เหล่านี้มาแล้วบ้าง มาเล่าให้พี่สายเด็กฟังได้นะคะ

พี่ๆ สายเด็กยินดีรับฟังน้องๆ ทุกปัญหา ทุกเรื่องราวทั้งสุขทั้งทุกข์เสมอเลยค่ะ

#childlinethailandfoundation #สายเด็ก1387 #พูดมาเหอะ #ล่วงละเมิดทางเพศ #stopsexualharassment #stopsexualviolence #SUFASEC #สิทธิของหนู #itsmyrights #รถโดยสารสาธารณะ

The post กระจกน้อยบ่งบอกสายตา appeared first on Childline Thailand.

Hub Update วันนี้

กับการตรวจสุขภาพประจำเดือนกุมภาพันธ์ที่ผ่านมา

ณ โรงพยาบาลกลาง และโรงพยาบาลตากใบ

ทางพี่ๆ สายเด็กได้นำน้องๆ ไปตรวจสุขภาพเพื่อเตรียมความพร้อมสำหรับการทำกิจกรรมต่างๆ และเพื่อใช้เอกสารทางการแพทย์ประกอบการสมัครงานในอนาคตของน้องๆ ผลสรุปว่า น้องๆ มีสุขภาพที่แข็งแรงดี พร้อมกับทุกกิจกรรมเลยค่ะ

#สายเด็ก1387 #saidek1387 #Hubupdate #วัยรุ่นร้อยอาชีพ #ตรวจสุขภาพ #เตรียมพร้อมร่างกายและใจ

 

The post #Hub Update appeared first on Childline Thailand.

Thailand is currently experiencing a significant third wave which, combined with vaccine uncertainty, has contributed to an already bleak economic forecast. The countries tourist sector, which accounts for 20% of the economy experienced a dramatic downturn and as of June 16th 2021 only 2.4% of Thais have received two doses. Bank of Thailand Governor told a seminar last week “The Thai Economy may have to wait until the first quarter of 2023 to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels”

In 2019, Childline Thailand recorded an average of 614 calls and chat sessions per month. As Covid-19 restrictions took hold, requests for help from children reached a record high of 2235 contacts in April 2020 and has remained above 2000 online contacts until the end of the year.

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Childline Thailand Director Ilya Smirnoff said: “We must prioritize mental health support during this pandemic to avoid a generation of disaffected youths. Children are highly perceptive of their parents moods and actions, and economic hardship can lead to stress, and a breakdown of family relationships. Childline Thailand’s role is vital at this time and we continue to be there for children: to listen, educate and campaign for their rights “

The post Children hit hardest by third wave appeared first on Childline Thailand.

Having run away from home at the age of nine, scrawny and pint-sized Bank*, now 16, is one of many faceless street children who have hit rock bottom since the first wave of Covid-19 began last year.

“Covid-19 has made it impossible for us homeless people to find money to pay for our daily expenses,” said Bank, a native of Phetchaburi province. “My girlfriend is largely dependent on me to provide for her financially. To make sure we don’t end up sleeping on the road I need to generate enough daily income to pay for a room for the night.”

Bank has been self-reliant since coming to Bangkok with a friend in search of adventure as his family life was dysfunctional. To financially support himself, he began mixing with the wrong crowd which then led to a life of crime — two of his most serious charges are drugs and arson. He admits that he took drugs to forget about his troubles, one of which was financial and thus he hadn’t slept in two days.

But with the Covid-19 pandemic continuing, things have only gone from bad to worse.

“Sleeping on the streets today is no longer an option because it is infested with danger. That is the reason I have been pushed to earn a living in whatever manner I can. I have also been put behind bars for this. Society says that being behind bars will mould our behaviour and make us better citizens but I feel that this cannot be generalised. All children are different and respond differently. What I believe youngsters need is nurturing and to feel that someone has your back no matter what.”

It is in hard times such as this that Bank finds refuge at the Hub, an NGO under the Childline Thailand Foundation umbrella, located near the Hua Lamphong train station. It is here that he and others have three meals, do their laundry and are offered counselling among other services tailored towards their well-being.

Bank said the lockdown and curfews implemented earlier became an obstacle to his illegal activities. Now, he tries to earn an honest living by painting window grills and homes when opportunities arise.

“I can make 500 baht a day with my painting jobs but I usually don’t last because I take drugs, which saps my physical and emotional energy to the point that I don’t want to continue. I know the effort that goes into an honest day’s earnings, so I spend more wisely. If I got money illegally, without the blink of an eye I would spend it on drugs. However, I am attempting to give up on it as it is ravaging my body and mind.”

He found himself broke after being released from juvenile detention centre and unable to care for his girlfriend and younger sibling, who are also homeless.

He added that during the pandemic, homeless people don’t dare to venture into public spaces. Of course, they fear contracting the virus like anyone else.

“That is why my crew hangs out at the Hub the entire day and leaves at night. The problem is we are running out of ways to financially support ourselves as businesses have closed. Illegal work is also not as lucrative as it was in the past.

“I would like to know why we [homeless] are not considered for government relief measures during the pandemic? Is it because we are at the bottom of the food chain? I have had sleepless nights thinking about what I should do next to survive. I take out my frustrations on my girlfriend and take drugs as a form of letting off steam.”

Ilya Smirnoff of The Hub said the ongoing pandemic has impacted homeless youngsters at different levels. The street children under their care reside wherever they can and come to them for food, medication and a sympathetic ear.

He said youngsters that work in the sex and drug industry use the money to secure living arrangements in addition to handling daily expenses. They typically live in cheap hotels, paying a couple of hundred baht a day to keep a roof over their heads.

He said they live moment-to-moment. Their daily concern is to find a resting place where they are relatively safe and alone.

Street children, said the social worker, are some of the most vulnerable because they are open to all types of elements out there, mostly the bad and ugly.

“What the third wave has done is exacerbate their already deteriorating financial hardship as most depend on menial work and with small businesses shut they have few options to support themselves.

“When you are homeless, you cannot pick and choose where your income comes from. Menial work here and there is one legal way they generate money. The older ones might get work as security guards in places that require someone to keep away intruders and the more fortunate ones might land a job at a petrol station. They also dabble in sex and drugs to cover daily expenses.”

Smirnoff said that during the third wave, the focus has been on distributing survival bags to homeless youngsters that come to them. The number of street children needing support has doubled while the increase in general services for them has spiked seven to eight fold. This situation has put pressure on their budget as financial support has dwindled.

Smirnoff attributes not having had any Covid-19 cases at the Hub to the fact that the street children isolate themselves from society.

He said the amount of interaction they have with large crowds is relatively low and as long as no one gets it within their circle of friends, they are safe from the virus.

“These kids are very tough. They live on the streets. You don’t survive on the streets if you are not quite strong physically. Their immune system may not be strong but it is robust. Even if they are asymptomatic, they are socially isolated from the outside world as they don’t interact with people from the various Covid-19 clusters we hear about.

“No one comes close to a street kid, so it is like social distancing by default.

“However what the pandemic has done is put them into deeper isolation from society than ever before. They have just become even less significant.”

With the end of the outbreak nowhere in sight, Bank would like government agencies to consider the plight of the homeless during the pandemic.

“Society shuns us because of the way we look and our mannerisms and clothing, so it is not possible to ask for a roof over my head at government-run social service agencies which are already full.”

*Not his realname.

Originally published in the Bangkok Post 17th May 2021 https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/2116943/helping-the-helpless

Cover photo ‘Homeless people around Victory Monument’ by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul

The post Helping the Helpless appeared first on Childline Thailand.

Cyber Risks, for example, received a score of 3 out of a possible 100. This category included Cyber Threats, a measure that “exposes risks such as phishing or hacking based on a percentage of children and adolescents who experienced cyber threats”.

Childline Thailand director Ilya Smirnoff said “The 2020 COSI report is very concerning, right now children in Thailand are experiencing an online pandemic and are at a high risk from cyber threats. Childline Thailand are working on projects to educate youths about online safety but the scale of the problem is vast”

The research was conducted by international think-tank The DQ Institute and the data it publishes is a real-time measure for each country’s child online safety. COSI will be automatically updated as the countries progress with their child online safety and digital citizenship initiatives and the results help to identify priorities for improvement. According to Dr Yuhyun Park, Founder of the DQ Institute “The Child Online Safety Index should serve as a wakeup call to everyone about the safety of the world’s children online.” 

All of us have a responsibility use technology responsibly and protect our children. The COSI report should be a catalyst for change.

The post Child Online Safety Concerns appeared first on Childline Thailand.

This month scenes of protests in Thailand were broadcast around the world, with people taking to the streets in largely peaceful demonstrations. Many of the protestors were students and youths seeking to challenge the establishment and exercise their democratic rights. 

Initially the protests were organised by a group called the ‘Bad Students’ seeking reform the education system and call for an end to all forms of harassment against students, including corporal punishment. However, the protests have since snowballed into a much bigger movement with many other groups bringing grievances against the government and in some cases, the monarchy. Leaving the reasons for the protests to one side, Childline is most concerned about the safety of youths attending the rallies and how they should be treated if they are arrested by police. 

By law, if someone is under 18 they must have a lawyer present immediately after their arrest. During the protests Childline shared this information and other updates on social media, reminding youths to stay safe. Around 80 protestors have been arrested to date, in an apparent contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Thailand ratified in 1996 and protects the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. 

The protests have gained global support and with the power of social media, youth groups are determined to bring about winds of change.

The post Thai Student Protests appeared first on Childline Thailand.

The incident has also ignited a debate surrounding corporal punishment and it’s widely known that schools still use physical punishment to control children. Childline Thailand director Ilya Smirnoff commented:

“Physical abuse by teachers is intolerable and causes lasting mental harm to children. Unfortunately it’s still prevalent Thai schools and some continue to use corporal punishment, despite the fact that it’s been illegal here since 2005”

Childline Thailand condemns any act of violence against children and encourages students, parents or teachers to report incidents of abuse in schools.

The post Sarasas School Scandal appeared first on Childline Thailand.

These predatory attacks are psychology damaging to children, who may be ‘groomed’ by online offenders for a period of time before committing a sexual offence. Even if no physical crime takes place, emotional abuse is still suffered by child victims who may be humiliated and blackmailed. It is also a disturbing reality that online abuse can happen in the house without the parents being aware.

Director of Childline Thailand, Ilya Smirnoff  is gravely concerned about this trend and the challenges of preventing it “Technology is always one step ahead and the perpetrators learn and adopt the technology much faster than law enforcement”

Since 2004, Interpol reported a 10,000% increase in sexually exploitative material and with a spike caused by the pandemic this is an issue that must be urgently addressed. Childline are advocating for policy change to protect children and legalisation is currently being drafted to criminalise the grooming of children in Thailand.

If you are aware of any child being sexually exploited in Thailand, please act now and email info@childlinethailand.org or call 1387. We rely on donations to offer counselling and support to child victims of online abuse, please help by contributing to our cause  

The post Thailand sees rise in online child sexual exploitation appeared first on Childline Thailand.