The Thai Government has opened a new website in an effort to protect youth from online sexual harassment, which has reportedly been on the rise, especially against the 11-15 age group.
Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said today (Wednesday) that the website is the result of a joint effort between the Office of the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister, the Royal Thai Police and a working committee, which was set up to deal with internet crimes against children.
Any youngster who is experiencing sexual harassment online can log into the website to file a complaint or to seek help and advice, she said.
To file a complaint, the complainant is required to complete the form available online, providing details of the alleged harassment, and upload a file, not exceeding 10 MB, containing supporting evidence of the alleged harassment. After that, officials will contact the complainant.
If a complainant wants to seek help, he or she is required to complete the form and give details of the alleged harassment, their concerns and what help they are seeking.
According to the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, which has kept a record of sexual violence reported by nine newspapers since 2019, there were 333 incidents of sexual violence, of which 43.9% concerned rape, 11.7% concerned forced prostitution and 10.2% attempted rape.
According to the same report, those in the 11-15 age group account for 47.3% of the victims, the 6-10 age group accounts for 4.5% and the 16-20 age group accounts for 35.7%.
84.8% of the victims are students and most of the violent incidents occurred in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Khon Kaen, Krabi and Udon Thani.
