Gender-based violence in male prisons in Thailand:a case study of tut and gay men prisoners | |
| Author | Jitrin Wanmeechai |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.GD-23-01 |
| Subject(s) | LGBTQ+ people--Violence against--Thailand Transgender people--Violence against --Thailand Male prisoners--Thailand |
| Note | A thesis submitted in patial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Gender-based violence is a pervasive problem in prisons, where incarcerated individuals are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Sexual and gender minorities in prison is the group that are disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence in prison. This research was undertaken to study the experience of gender based violence by Tut and gay in male prisons in Thailand, to identify the effects of gender-based violence against Tut and gay men, and to study how Tut and gay prisoners cope with the impact of gender-based violence. The study was conducted in Thailand. The study gathered findings and results by using a qualitative approach by interviewing the respondents–Tut and gay ex-prisoners which is the minorities that experienced GBV in male prison in Thailand. In addition, this research also interviewed prison guards as key informants. The main findings of the study are that the experience of gender-based violence by sexual and gender minorities in male prisons can be divided into three forms: physical violence, sexual violence, and psychological violence. Tut prisoners is the group who faced only verbal harassment as sexual violence, while coming-out gay with masculine expression prisoners face all three forms of violence. Physical violence includes shoving, head-slapping, head covering with a dung bucket, and direct physical violence such as punching, hitting, kicking, or causing other injuries. Sexual violence includes sexual harassment, such as necking, caressing, hugging, and kissing, being forced to masturbate, and being raped. Psychological violence is being forced to not participate the activities with other prisoners. The effects of GBV are physical and mental health effects. The physical health effects include the feeling of pain, illnesses such as nausea, vomiting and fever, severe injuries such as bruising and cuts, and STIs and HIV infection. The mental health effects include anxiety and stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Lastly, coping with the impacts are active coping– problem-solving and acceptance, and passive coping– self-distraction and self-blame. This study finds key factors that make coming-out gay with masculine expression prisoners the highest risk group for GBV, which are the lack of gender knowledge, coming out of sexual self-disclosure of gay prisoners, a homophobic attitude from v straight prisoners, and the lack of concrete punishment for GBV cases. The study recommends concrete punishment for GBV cases in prison and gender knowledge and gender awareness training for prisoner for a better improvement of GBV cases in prison in Thailand. |
| Year | 2023 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Gender and Development Studies (GD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Chatterjee, Joyee S. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kusakabe, Kyoko;Doneys, Philippe |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2023 |