These Magic Dolls are not simply cute and cuddly toys to be used to fuel the imagination of children; they are anatomically-correct tools designed to be used to help children who have been sexually abused. Each doll, whether they are of a young boy with bright hair, or of a grownup with a pot belly, is individually designed to be physiologically and anatomically able to be used by young children to indicate trauma or abuse. Today these dolls are used to shed light on crimes often shrouded in darkness.
Each hand-sewn anatomically detailed doll is unique and features all ten fingers and ten toes as well as various identifying features which may be required to point to a perpetrator. Each doll also features sexual organs, as well as holes for the mouth and anus – similar to a classic anatomy doll typically used in the studies of anatomy and physiology. However, in this case, these dolls are used to help reduce, or find closure for, sexual assaults on children.
So many creative solutions are found when problems arise. One day an investigating officer posted on her social media platform a problem she found when communicating with young victims of sexual assault. This led Assistant Professor Dr. Alicha Treerotchananon of the Faculty of Mass Communications and independent artist Sudsiri Pui-ock to begin work on creating these dolls to be used as investigative tools.
“The first time we made one of these dolls it was following the post by Police Colonel Jareewan Puttanuruk who had posted on Facebook of her many challenges when interviewing a young victim of sexual assault. She wrote of the challenges she faced when drawing information from young children about sexual assault. Names for sexual organs different from household to household, and importantly children this age didn’t understand how to express themselves through examples very well. Some victims are from tribal villagers, adding language challenges to the mix. It was important for those working with children to draw as much information to be used to prosecute a case as possible, without harming the children’s mental and emotional wellbeing,” explained Assistant Professor Dr. Alicha.
Police Colonel Jareewan Puttanuruk
Assistant Professor Dr. Alicha Treerotchananon, Faculty of Mass Communications, Chiang Mai University
The alternative method found was therefore the Magic Doll which could help to find the truth when it came to trial and allow children to communicate in non-traumatic ways by sewing life-like genitals onto the dolls. Volunteers were invited to help sew the dolls which are today used to help not only young children, but the mentally impaired, to communicate about crimes committed on their persons, offering clarity in court as to what actually occurred.
“We must give credit to the designer of the dolls, Sudsiri Pui-ock, an alum from the Faculty of Fine Arts, who used creativity to solve the problem and offered us opportunities to expand our communication to help children who are victims of sexual assault.”
These are not complex nor sophisticated dolls, simply because they needed to be used to communicate trauma as clearly and precisely as possible. They were designed not to look too real as to cause trauma by recalling memories (unlike silicon designs previously used), and the doll-like features help to alleviate stress; hence the features are never too stern nor too happy as to influence emotions. Colourful clothes and hair invites children to play and to feel comfortable in potentially stressful environments.
In many cases, volunteers are asked to design the dolls to fit the specifics of a crime, adding the appropriate body weight, clothes or hair colour as needed in each case.
“Our first dolls were sewn by a group of students which we then expanded to volunteers,” added Assistant Professor Dr. Alicha who went on to say that the first dolls had no fingers. “The feedback from investigators, however, was that fingers were required to help prove cases in the court of law. According to Thai law, any penetration by an anatomy or foreign object into another person for the purpose of sexual gratification is interpreted as rape. Investigating officers have their methods of revealing the truth and our job is to give them the tools to be able to do so effectively. We don’t need to know any of the details of the crime or what our dolls are used for, only that they are able to be used when they need to be used to help convict a criminal, at the same time reducing the pain as much as possible for the victim.”
“Sometimes we are asked to add more grey hair, or a bigger belly, or make the doll look more mature in age, so instead of just making one boy or one girl doll, we will do at least three of the perpetrator, which is almost always a man, and a boy or a girl.”
Magic Dolls family
Since 2016 when the dolls were first designed, they have now been sent to police stations across the country as well as to various community enterprises and the Magic Dolls have proven to be invaluable in many ways. Sometimes they are used as tools in interviews, helping to find the perpetrator, used as educational tools when teaching about sexual assault or shown in harm-reduction demonstrations to kindergarten children, helping to explain to them that their private parts should not be violated, etc. Today, multiple government bodies, including the Thailand Institute of Justice, are working with Chiang Mai University’s Faculties of Science, Medicine, Engineering, Business Administration and Mass Communications as well as its College of Media, Arts and Technology with the aim to send these Magic Dolls to all 1,500 police stations across Thailand, especially those with female investigative officers.
In 2021 Dr. Alicha received the ‘Wonder Woman in Toys 2021’ award from the Women in Toys, Licensing and Entertainment – The Global Community.
A Magic Doll volunteer
The volunteers who are working to sew the dolls come from all walks of life; some are victims of sexual abuse themselves or are men wishing to mitigate some of the harm that some of their sex may do. Whatever their motivation, they are all putting their efforts and their hearts into helping solve just one of society’s many issues. It may be a small space, but the safe space which these Magic Dolls hold is of vital importance to those who truly need them.
“Usually dolls are playthings which are designed to look happy and bring joy to children and adults alike. While our dolls are destined to one day be used to tell tales of horror and of atrocities, we hope that ultimately all that will remain of them in the memories of children will be of their gentle smile and one which could then help spread the smile to the children themselves.”
Interested parties can visit www.magicdolls.org for more information.
(Photographs from Magic Dolls Facebook page)