Ending sexual harassment, promoting a safe workplace in Thai parliament

Sexual harassment among parliamentarians has been in the spotlight, including in Thailand, prompting calls to revise mechanisms to increase workplace safety, to protect politicians, lawmakers and officials.

Has parliament done enough to protect its own members?

A ‘black box’ reporting system was installed in the Thai parliament and it received a total of 775 responses, 62.5% of which described experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment. While the majority of survivors are women, 21.6% of the respondents are men, and 2.2% are of the LGBTQ+ community. 4.1% chose not to specify their gender.

Types of abuse vary from unwanted skin contact, groping, attempted rape, followed by making sexually suggestive comments, staring at body parts, stalking, cat-calling and cyberbullying.

Over half of these respondents refused to name the perpetrator or specify the perpetrators’ position in parliament. For those who opened up, 73 cases identified the abusers as officials in the Secretariat of the Senate, 32 cases identified them as officials in the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, 26 cases involved Senators and 25 cases involved staff members working in the parliament building.

These results were revealed during a seminar on March 31st, the subject of which asrethinking mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment against parliamentarians.

Strong culture of silence vs. the power pyramid

“That's the evidence showing there is a strong ‘silence culture’ within the Thai Parliament,” Senator Pornchai Witayalerdpan, who initiated the study, explains why over half of the survivors refused to name their alleged abusers.

The silence culture, according to Pornchai, consists of four main aspects, namely fear of retaliation, distrust in internal systems in seeking justice, social stigma and fear of being identified.

A lot of these stem from the power dynamics that are deeply ingrained in Thai social structures, especially in parliament. This can be visualised as a pyramid, in which their seniority, position and gender indicate how much power they have to evade the consequences of wrongdoing.

Senior male politicians, such as the House Speaker, would be at the top of the power pyramid. Those at a lower level are Senators and MPs, followed by advisors, secretaries and assistants to Senators and MPs. Those at the bottom of the pyramid are trainees, janitors and temporary staff, who are in the most vulnerable position because they could be dismissed if they attempt to expose abuse.

“Those in the lowest tier of the pyramid don't have any voice at all,” Senator Pornchai explains, adding “If they raise their concern or if they become a whistle-blower, their positions can make them vulnerable to dismissal. Their wellbeing and their livelihoods can be negatively affected if they are brave enough to call out the perpetrator.”

Weak mechanisms

Another problem is that the existing mechanisms are too weak.

Based on the findings, most parliamentarians and staff members do not believe that anyone will take action against perpetrators, making them feel unheard and unsafe to file complaints and report abuse. Opening up about sexual harassment or abuse is already an uncomfortable experience.

“The mechanisms that we have, are they really safe?” Atchima Sangrat, Researcher at the National Legislative College of King Prajadhipok's Institute asks, adding “Because most people wonder, when they report abuse, how will it be solved? The perpetrator may only be transferred or just questioned whether the abuse was real.”

In fact, sexual harassment and abuse are just the tip of the iceberg. The power dynamics, cultural and gender norms and the people’s mind-sets often allow these problems to persist in Thai society.

One aspect contributing to the problem is how the cases are being dealt with, which often ends in quiet settlement, whereby perpetrators protect their reputation and complaints are likely to be filed away.

“The existing mechanisms to accept or solve cases of abuse are already there, but what can we do to increase their safety?” Warisara Meepasanee, a coordinator of the ‘Friend with Ears’ movement commented. “We can have organisations or groups to come in and help tackle these issues, including investigations, so that these mechanisms can continue.”

“What I think would be the best starting point is to have a ‘gender focal point’, which is established to have the power to drive gender equality, not just established in accordance with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, but it will become a policy wherein parliament will advocate for gender issues. No matter what people have endured, gender focal points could help them,” Atchima believes.

Current punishments

The revised anti-sexual harassment law in Thailand came into effect on December 30th, 2025, in which the definition goes beyond physical to include verbal, gestural, stalking as well as online.

The penalty for verbal sexual harassment or gestures, such as staring at someone’s body parts or cat calling, is one year in prison or a fine of up to 20,000 baht.

Unwanted physical contact, such as touching or hugging someone without their consent, is also one year in prison or a fine of up to 20,000 baht on conviction.

As for online sexual harassment, such as sending sexually explicit messages, comments or images, the offender can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 60,000 baht on conviction.

If an offender abuses a position of authority to harass a victim, such as a manager targeting a subordinate or a teacher targeting a student, the penalty would also be three years in prison or a fine of up to 60,000 baht on conviction.

If the victim is under the age of 15, the offender faces the harshest penalty, which is up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 baht on conviction, regardless of whether the complainant consented or not.

To put an end to sexual harassment in parliament, a stronger system of protection is vital. The system, which Senator Pornchai describes as a “vacuum”, would include a code-of-conduct that clearly identifies what behaviour is considered sexual harassment, compulsory training for all parliamentarians and staff on how to prevent sexual abuse and a complaint system that is not controlled by parliament, which would enable more transparent and survivor-centric investigations.

“If we pay more attention to the fragile situation of women in Parliament, especially those [at the bottom of the power pyramid], then we can hear their concerns and we can help them come out and call out those perpetrators more,” Pornchai concluded.