Help 5,000 Thai Girls Protect Themselves

Soft-spoken Kanjaree Sirimakakun (Kik) hails from Nakhon Si Thammarat, a southern province in Thailand. The 20-year old is a teaching assistant and student at Pratthanadee Foundation in Bangkok. These days, Kik is far more confident than when she first joined the award-winning NGO carrying with her the weight of her backstory of an abusive stepfather.

Recounting that painful episode which she speaks up freely now, Kik said: “It was a three-room house. My mom and step-dad stayed in separate rooms. I had my own room and my younger sibling liked to sleep with my mom.

“One night, I suspected that my step-dad was still awake but didn’t think he would dare enter my room. He did. He came into my room and touched my body.” She added it was not a one-off. Kik said the training at Pratthanadee Foundation helped her get her life back together, and more importantly, gave her the confidence to speak up and speak out against violence and abuse.

Sadly, there are tens of thousands of girls with a backstory similar to Kik’s, especially in the northeast, in Ubon Ratchathani - one of the poorest regions in Thailand. We have been training girls at risk in that province, since 2011, to recognise and ward off sexual harassment and abuse, and to seek help. We also equip them with life skills that enable them to make better choices after they leave school, as many end up in Bangkok in demeaning and abusive workplaces. However, our impact is only as deeply felt as the funds we are able to raise to run our workshops for girls like Kik. So for 2019, we are appealing for your help to expand our work in Ubon. If you plan to support an organisation that helps underprivileged girls and women this year, remember us, we help change lives!