Help 5,000 Thai Girls Protect Themselves

Since 2011, we have operated a branch office in Ubon Ratchathani to offer training to high school girls at risk in northeast Thailand, one of the poorest regions in the country. From our observations over the years, most of the girls we have trained have a poor understanding of sexual abuse and domestic violence. We were shocked to learn from them that acts they had witnessed or experienced which were clearly domestic violence were, in their eyes, normal and tolerable behaviour, even when they were the ones being abused. They were equally clueless about sexual harassment, and did not know that abuse can be both physical and mental. Sadly, there are tens of thousands of high school girls in similar risky situations in this part of the kingdom. Our aim is to raise awareness and arm them with the tools to protect themselves through our training workshops. Our outreach to them will include:

• raising awareness of a range of risks (including relationships, harassment, financial dependency, pregnancy, and online grooming), as well as teaching tactics for avoiding different types of danger and ways to deal with incidents that may arise;
• training in basic self-defence moves such as wrist grabs, lapel grabs, and protection on the ground;
• and raising awareness of the Thai laws relevant to women, such as procedures in reporting domestic violence or assault to the police.

We will also help the girls to create a plan for their future, be it educational or professional, so that they do not end up in the informal sector being paid below minimum wage, and worst of all, being abused and trapped in a vicious cycle like so many northeastern Thai girls who end up in the capital as sex workers.

If you think what we do is a cause you are passionate about as well, please support us. We are nearly $25,000 short in our fundraising target of $26,000 which will enable us to train 5,000 underprivileged high school girls who lack the knowledge and skills to deal with sexual harassment and violence. Do consider gifting to our cause so that more lives can be transformed with your help.