BANGKOK, 13 January 2015 – A women’s rights advocate group has urged the Constitution Drafting Committee to include provisions in the new constitution that ensures gender equality and to encourage women to participate in the reform process.
Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) Bawornsak Uwanno received the petition from the Women Lawyers Association of Thailand under the Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
Mrs. Suthini Methiprapha, President of Women Lawyers Association who delivered the petition said the prevalence of women-related issues in the country ranging from domestic violence to teen pregnancy meant that the new constitution needed to include provisions that address women’s issues based on the principles of ensuring gender equality and female participation in all sectors of society.
According to Mrs. Suthini, the constitution should encourage women to have a say in matters of economic, social and political matters by ensuring women’s representation in policy- making positions. She proposed, for example, that electoral ballots for continual and proportional representatives should include no less than one-third the ratio of female to male candidates.
