"Six months have passed since the Burmese Army seized power in a coup. Since that dark day, the people of Burma/Myanmar have continued to suffer the consequences. In the months following Feb 1, it has become abundantly clear that the terrorist junta has neither the political will nor the ability to govern with compassion and humanity. Something must be done to reverse the devastation. But dismantling the junta’s legacy of violence and impunity is not without its challenges. Yet, the on-going civil movements and growing calls for action alongside campaigns for accountability, signals that the struggle for freedom, equality and peace for the people of Burma/Myanmar will continue. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already devastating political, economic and social climate. At the time of this writing, the country has reported over 300,000 confirmed cases Ethnic areas are also seriously affected by the pandemic. Exploitation of the pandemic has led to countless preventable deaths. The junta’s negligence has been made clear in their hoarding of oxygen tanks for themselves as they threatened health care workers, forcing many to go underground. Pharmacies have been forced to close due to insufficient stock, and those that remain open are inaccessible to many due to price inflation. For displaced populations and refugees, their situation comes with a lack of direct access to healthcare facilities. Children and the elderly are facing many difficulties because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘war on health’ is the latest battle the people of Burma/ Myanmar are now facing. The military is moving backwards by arresting health care workers who share anti-coup views. According to recent statistics, the majority of health workers involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) are women, and they too are putting themselves at risk providing medical services to the infected. In this new struggle, women are disproportionately impacted. Across generations, women take on many responsibilities in the household, including being a primary caretaker. As they give their energy to their infected loved ones, they put themselves at more risk of catching the virus. Meanwhile, unlawful arrests and persecution of pro-democracy activists continues. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,084 women have been arrested and 65 killed since Feb 1. Another 100 youth have been killed by the junta, including 75 children. Additionally, 1,000 young people between the ages of 10 and 19 have been detained. Of those arrested, 65 have been sentenced to death through military tribunals, including four women. Burma/Myanmar has not evoked the death penalty since 1988. These sentences are excruciatingly punitive and they lack legitimacy. Peaceful protest is not a crime, and yet under the junta’s control, those with different views are persecuted. Impact of the Military Coup: The junta continues to deny and dismiss the severity of the multiple crises unfolding within the country. International intervention to curb the rate of infections and carry out an effective humanitarian response is urgently needed. Women and children have suffered enormous consequences since the junta’s ruthless takeover. Surviving under an authoritarian regime has been immeasurably difficult for the most vulnerable. In Burma/Myanmar, women are unfairly recognized as the weaker gender. The military often treats them with severe disrespect, abusing and intimidating them to maintain their control. Since the military overthrew the democratically elected government, sexual harassment, rape, and arrests have increased. There is no compassion shown for the elderly, the sick, people with disabilities or young. To the Burmese Army, they are simply the threats to their new political order. Women have also been threatened by the junta for their pro-democracy activities. A weak legal system has undermined all prospects for justice and accountability. Women’s access to justice referral pathways is also limited by patriarchal and cultural stereotypes. Isolating civilians from life-saving services is another branch of the junta’s deceitful tactics. Many of the victims of their atrocities are from low-income communities who lack the financial capacity and legal literacy to access services. The junta has a long history of committing sexual abuse against young women and girls. The abuse leaves survivors traumatized, often without reparations for the crimes committed against them. In detention, prisoners are allowed limited access to water. Due to the unsanitary conditions, women in the prison often take contraceptives. Even though there may be consequences to their health, women political prisoners in Dawei Township have no choice but receive the contraceptive injections through the clinics in the prison. Inadequate access to sanitary conditions while unlawfully detained is yet another violation they are forced to endure. As tens of thousands of positive cases and hundreds of deaths from COVID-19 are being reported, prisons throughout the country are also affected by the coronavirus. Making it worse is the military’s unwillingness to contain the pandemic and provide proper medical care. Dr. Htar Htar Lin, the Director of the National Immunization Program and one of the leading experts on COVID-19 in Burma/ Myanmar, who was arrested with her family on June 20, is now infected with the virus. While two women reportedly died in Insein Prison in the month of July due to being denied medical care. One was Moe Thu, a 42-year-old anti-coup protest leader from Khayan Township in Yangon Region, whose colleagues believed she died of COVID-19. In response to the negligence of the prison’s management over the deteriorating COVID-19 pandemic and its discriminatory medical treatment within prison, women from the two female detention blocks in Insein Prison staged a protest in the morning of July 23 spreading across the prison. Young children are not exempt from this horrendous treatment. Ko Soe Htay, a Burmese human rights activist, says his five-year-old daughter was arrested and detained in his place with his wife and elder daughter. The family was forced to endure stress positions by the junta. Since her release, he says his young daughter has been traumatized. His eldest, who remains in prison, is suffering from life-threatening injuries..."