Working group proposes orientation for Thai wives immediately after immigration

Some Finnish husbands exercise control over wives by deliberately withholding information

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A working group of the Ministry of the Interior is proposing that Thai women who immigrate to Finland with a Finnish husband should be given information about Finnish society immediately after arrival in the country.
      The group proposes that brochures should be produced for all immigrants in their own languages on the basic services that are available, but feels that this is especially important for Thai women, who often arrive in Finland with no language skills.
     
Thai wives often never find out about services such as language lessons and other orientation assistance. In many cases, the Finnish husbands have been found to deliberately prevent their wives from integrating into the rest of society.
      In cases of domestic violence or other problems in the marriage, the wives often are unable or are afraid to seek help from officials, often fearing that they might lose their residence permit. Many women living outside the social safety nets have ended up working in Thai massage parlours - effectively as sex workers.
     
After an uproar emerged on the matter in the autumn of 2007, the Ministry of the Interior set up two working groups to examine the plight of Thai immigrant women. The working group on integration submitted its report on Wednesday.
      The Interior Ministry recommends the establishment of so-called low threshold centres, where immigrants can get peer support and help in their own languages.
     
“The problem is not so much the lack of services any more, but rather the fact that Thai women do not find them”, says Jaana Kauppinen, executive director of Pro-tukipiste, a support organisation helping sex workers in Finland.
      Pro-tukipiste has been working with women employed in massage parlours already since 2000.
      With the help of grants from the European Union, the group has produced a website and videos in the Thai language with information on practical matters, such as using public transport in Finland, Finnish banking, and dealing with the Social Insurance Institution (KELA).


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Female immigrants from Thailand supported by EUR 1.5 million in EU funding (20.11.2008)
  Minister of Interior calls for police investigation into Thai massage parlours (11.9.2007)
  Sex services offered at all Helsinki Thai massage parlours visited by HS (27.8.2007)
  Holmlund and Thors want NGOs to help Thai victims of domestic violence (22.5.2009)
  Domestic violence and residence permit problems drive Thai women underground (18.5.2009)
  Helsinki Thai community will not denounce their own (30.8.2007)

Links:
  Pro-tukipiste: information and videos in Thai

Helsingin Sanomat