1. BACKGROUND Violence against women (VAW) is a pervasive human right violation that affects one out of three women worldwide.[1] Cutting across all distinctions of geography, class or ethnicity, it is firmly grounded in unequal power relations between women and men and reinforced by discriminatory and gender-biased attitudes, norms and practices that both contribute to such violations and allow them to continue unchallenged. VAW impedes human development and has serious negative consequences, ranging from multiple immediate to long-term physical, sexual and psychological impacts, which often prevent women and girls from fully participating in society. In addition, it carries tremendous economic costs for women, their families, for businesses, national budgets, the economy and society at large. VAW is rooted in gender inequality, discrimination, and harmful cultural and social norms. It is an expression of power and control of men over women. Harmful notions of masculinity, the sense of sexual entitlement that many men have over women and their bodies, and the widespread cultural acceptance of violence, drive violence against women and allow it to continue unchallenged. Women migrant workers are disproportionately vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation at all stages of the migration cycle and they often experience intersectional forms of discrimination due to the sector of labour market insertion, legal status, limited access to information, debt bondage, among others. As outlined in the 2017 Report of the Secretary-General on “Violence against women migrant workers”, while women can considerably increase their agency through their decision to migrate, they are also overwhelmingly featured as survivors of VAW and trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation. Women migrant survivors of violence and trafficking face multiple challenges while seeking justice or accessing essential services. Lack of gender-sensitive facilities and reception services, absence of protection orders, limited referral networks and coordination mechanisms are among the main barriers faced by survivors of VAW. Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region (2018-2022), is part of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls, a global, multi-year initiative between the European Union and United Nations. Safe and Fair is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. The programme aims to address women migrant workers’ vulnerabilities to violence and trafficking, strengthen rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to violence against women and labour migration governance, and support access to essential services. In Thailand, Safe and Fair works in close cooperation with governments and social partners to achieve three inter-linking specific objectives: (1) Women migrant workers are better protected by gender-sensitive labour migration governance frameworks; (2) Women migrant workers are less vulnerable to violence and trafficking and benefit from coordinated responsive quality services; and (3) Data, knowledge and attitudes on the rights and contributions of women migrant workers are improved. The programme strategy mainstreams three cross-cutting topics: women’s voice and agency; rights-based approach; and broad engagement of stakeholders. In 2019, Safe and Fair conducted Scoping Studies Research with the objective of increasing knowledge on existing legal frameworks and referral structures in the field of violence against women (VAW), labour migration and trafficking. Through extensive country reports, a deep overview of existing services for survivors of violence, including women migrant workers, is provided. In August 2019, the National Workshop on Coordinated Quality Services for Ending Violence against Women, held in Bangkok, the importance of developing and operationalizing localized Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on VAW referral mechanisms was agreed among key stakeholders, such as government agencies and civil society organizations. Furthermore, in December 2019, during the Workshop on Quality VAW Service Coordination in Mae Sot, key stakeholders discussed the development of local SOPs on VAW prevention and response, mapped existing key actors on VAW services with a particular focus on women migrant workers. As a result of the consultation in 2019, in 2020, the Mae Sot Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) on Violence against Women was drafted. It is expected to be verified by service providers in Mae Sot by year-end of 2020 to ensure effective implementation of local level coordination and governance of coordination. As part of the effort to strengthen effective functioning of coordination at the national level, Safe and Fair plans to support the discussion, drafting, and development of agreements, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) on Violence against Women, Focusing on Women Migrant Workers. [1] World Health Organization, Global and Regional Estimates of Violence against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-partner Sexual violence (2013), p.2. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/9789241564625_eng.pdf
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