- EMPOWER
EMPOWER (Education Means Protection Of Women Engaged in Recreation) or Moolniti Songserm Okard Pooying ( _th. มูลนิธิส่งเสริมโอกาสผู้หญิง) is a non-profit organisation in
Thailand that supportssex worker s by offering free classes in language, health, law and pre-college education as well as individual counseling. The organisation also lobbies the government in an attempt to extend regular labour protections to sex workers.EMPOWER was founded in
1985 by Chantawipa Apisuk; she still runs the head office inNonthaburi Province . The organisation maintains main offices inPatpong (Bangkok ),Chiang Mai ,Mae Sai [ [http://www.untamed-travel.com/p_Sex_Work520.asp?origin=The%20Big%20Read Report on EMPOWER] , "Untamed Travel Magazine", August 2003] andPatong Beach ,Phuket .Unlike most Thai organisations operating in this field, EMPOWER takes a neutral stance towards sex work and does not pressure people to leave the trade. Partly because of this, EMPOWER receives little financial support from the Thai government; the bulk of the donations come from abroad.
In
2003 the organisation published a report stating that many anti-trafficking organisations failed to recognize the important difference between migrant sex workers and women forced to prostitute themselves against their will. They documented a May 2003 "raid and rescue" operation on a brothel in Chiang Mai that was carried out without the consent of the workers, resulting in numerous human rights violations. [ [http://www.nswp.org/mobility/mpower-0306.html A report by Empower Chiang Mai on the human rights violations women are subjected to when "rescued" by anti-trafficking groups who employ methods using deception, force and coercion] , June 2003]At the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok in
2004 , EMPOWER set up a mockgo go bar complete with a dancer to highlight efforts to increasecondom use among sex workers; this was criticised by then Health MinisterSudarat Keyuraphan .Shortly after the tsunami of December 2004, EMPOWER opened their office in
Patong Beach ,Phuket and published a report estimating that over 2,000 sex workers had died and lamenting the lack of support for migrant sex workers affected by the flood. [ [http://www.nswp.org/nswp/empower-050118.html Empower: Update No. 2: Situation of Sex Workers in South Thailand] , January 18, 2005] In September 2005 they started a radio programme for sex workers in Phuket. [ [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?id=123988 EMPOWERING SEX WORKERS: Phuket radio helps with rights] , "The Nation", 20 November 2005.]In 2006 EMPOWER opened a worker-owned bar in Chiang Mai, named "Can Do". It is intended as a model for exemplary working conditions in the industry. [ [http://www.empowerfoundation.org/cando.html Can Do] , EMPOWER Foundation. Accessed 10 March 2008.]
EMPOWER publishes a Thai language newsletter called "Bad Girls" which allows sex workers to express themselves. [ [http://www.empowerfoundation.org/badgirls.html Bad Girls archives] .]
UNAIDS andUNDP announced at theXVII International AIDS Conference, 2008 inMexico City that EMPOWER had received one of 25 Red Ribbon Awards. This award, designed to celebrate community leadership and action on AIDS, included a $5,000 stipend, allowing EMPOWER to participate at the conference. [ [http://www.redribbonaward.org/content3.php?lg=en&pg=winners_2008 Red Ribbon Award winners 2008] ]ee also
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Prostitution in Thailand References
External links
* [http://www.empowerfoundation.org/ EMPOWER homepage]
* [http://timmatsui.com/blog/2007/03/01/feature-sex-workers-of-empower-chiang-mai-thailand-and-conflict-with-anti-trafficking-work/ Photo report about a visit at EMPOWER Chiang Mai] , March 2007. By Tim Matsui.
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