SANAYAR-THI-PAN WOMEN’S CENTER

Written on 05 March 2009.

Sanayar-Thi-Pan Women’s Centre was formed in 2004 by Burmese migrant women in Thailand after participating in a self-help health care training coordinated by GAATW. Sanayar-Thi-Pan Women’s Centre addresses an important gap in healthcare services as most migrant women workers are excluded from mainstream healthcare services in Thailand due to lack of documentation, income insecurity and language barriers. The Women’s Centre is staffed by Burmese migrant women and has become a trusted community resource and refuge for the Burmese migrant community along the Thai-Burmese border. The women run a drop-in centre, provide health care and treatment (herbal remedies), provide counselling, offer refuge for women in need and also run an outreach programme offering mobile health care in factories and brothels. The Women’s Centre also provides direct assistance to women who have been abused or suffer serious health problems, and produces information on women’s health, migration and labour issues. Workers also teach women how to plant herbs for health treatments, assist women in locating employment, provide accompaniment to the police when necessary and assist women with returning to Burma if desired.