Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Not a comprehensive list. For more, including updates, go to the publishers' home pages and search. Also use the OBL search function.
Websites/Multiple Documents
Source/publisher:
Burmanet News
Date of entry/update:
2016-06-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
International Women?s Rights Action Watch
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Large site, many dead or obsolete links......
"The Karen Women?s Organisation was formed in 1949 and has a membership of over 49,000 women. KWO is a community-based organisation of Karen women working in development and relief in the refugee camps on the Thai border and with IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and women inside Burma. Since our formation in 1949 we have expanded our focus from one of purely social welfare to try to encourage an awareness of Women?s Rights and to promote women?s participation in the community decision making and political processes......The objectives of the KWO"
* To assist women in the endeavour to be free from all forms of oppression.
* To promote and empower women in all spheres of life, including education and general living standards.
* To encourage women to participate in the struggle for freedom, democracy and equality.
* To develop women?s knowledge, ability and skills, including political and organisational skills.
* To achieve the rights of women and equal status with men.
* To promote and maintain Karen culture and traditions.
* To improve the well being of women and children and to increase their access to adequate health, education and welfare service.....
KWO aims to empower women through offering various capacity building trainings to teach skills, build confidence and create new opportunities so that women will be better able to solve problems. We are working hard to educate ourselves and our communities so that we can work more effectively and advocate for our struggle on the international stage...
We believe that women?s contribution is an essential factor in the peace-building and national reconciliation processes of Burma."
Source/publisher:
Karen Women Organization
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Karen (cultural, historical, political), Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Burmese women's organisations
Language:
English
more
Description:
"SWAN is a founding member of the Women's League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella women's organization comprising eleven women's groups from Burma. SWAN, through its affiliation with other women's organizations, establishes common platforms to promote the role of women from Burma in the struggle for democracy and human rights in their country.
SWAN's objectives: * Promoting women's rights and the rights of children; * Opposing exploitation of and violence against women and children; * Working together for peace and freedom in our society; * Empowering women for a better life; * Raising awareness to preserve natural resources and the environment. Background of SWAN
SWAN was set up on 28 March 1999 by a group of Shan women active in Thailand and along the Thai- Burma border seeking to address the needs of Shan women. In fact, before the formation of SWAN, Shan women in various locations had already been active in a number of projects to assist women. Even though informal networks were in place, it was felt that more could be achieved, in addressing both practical and strategic needs of Shan women, if a more concrete network among the various women could be formed.
This Shan women's network would also be able to coordinate with other women's organizations from Burma, as well as GOs and NGOs working with women locally, nationally and internationally.
General Background
The Shan State is over 64,000 square kilometers in size and forms the eastern part of the Union of Burma bordering China, Laos and Thailand. The people of the Shan State, like in other areas of Burma, suffer from abuse inflicted by the Burmese military regime, which according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Asia is amongst the worst in the world. The abuse inflicted on the Shan people by the Burmese military has forced many people to flee for their lives to Thailand.
The Thai government, however, does not recognize the Shan people as refugees and unlike the Karen and Karenni refugees, has not allowed them to set up refugees camps along the Thai-Burmese border. Consequently the Shans are forced to enter Thailand illegally, which leaves them extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Despite this, Shan people are still coming to take refuge in Thailand. The estimated number of Shans working illegally in Thailand is at least 300,000. Among them are many girls and young women who have been trafficked into Thai brothels, where they face a wide range of abuse including sexual and other physical violence, debt bondage, exposure to HIV/AIDS, forced labor without payment and illegal confinement..."
Reports, programmes etc.
Source/publisher:
Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN)
Date of entry/update:
2003-03-31
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Discrimination against women: reports of violations in Shan State, Burmese women's organisations, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Shan State - the human rights situation
Language:
English
more
Description:
From Resources, go to the drop-down menu for Country/Region, scroll down to ASIA/PACIFIC, then to South East Asia, and on to Burma-Myanmar... Links to documents on women and Burma...Material from 1997
Source/publisher:
PeaceWomen
Date of entry/update:
2009-03-06
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
Well-designed site containing several substantial reports, links, profiles of member organisations, etc. Members:
Kachin Women?s Association - Thailand (KWAT);
Karen Women?s Organization (KWO);
Kuki Women?s Human Rights Organization (KWHRO);
Lahu Women?s Organization (LWO);
Palaung Women?s Organization (PWO);
Pa-O Women?s Union (PWU);
Rakhaing Women?s Union (RWU);
Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN);
Tavoy Women?s Union (TWU);
Women?s Rights & Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB)...
"The Women?s League of Burma (WLB) is an umbrella organization comprising 11 already-existing women?s organizations of different ethnic backgrounds from Burma. WLB was founded on December 9,1999. Its mission is to work for women?s empowerment and advancement of the status of women, and to work for the increased participation of women in all spheres of society in the democracy movement, and in peace and national reconciliation processes through capacity building, advocacy, research and documentation...
Aims:
*
To work for the empowerment and development of women.
*
To encourage women?s participation in decision-making in all spheres of life.
* To enable women to participate effectively in the movement for peace, democracy and national reconciliation.
By working together, and encouraging cooperation between the different groups, the Women?s League of Burma hopes to build trust, solidarity and mutual understanding among women of all nationalities in Burma.".... The site also contains statements made by WLB representatives at various regional and international meetings including the Commission on Human Rights and the World Conference Against Racism.
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of entry/update:
2003-10-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Burmese women's organisations, Public briefings and oral statements to the CHR by non-governmental organisations, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, (links in Burmese, Thai)
more
Individual Documents
Topic:
Crisis and Conflict , Disasters and Displaced Populations , Sexual Violence and Rape , Women and Armed Conflict
Sub-title:
End Assistance to All Military-Controlled Entities
Topic:
Crisis and Conflict , Disasters and Displaced Populations , Sexual Violence and Rape , Women and Armed Conflict
Description:
"The Japanese government should immediately cancel plans to donate money to purchase vehicles and communications equipment for the Myanmar police force, Human Rights Watch said today. The police force, which operates under the auspices of the military, outside the control of the civilian government, has a well-documented record of serious human rights violations.
On July 2, 2020, Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced a grant of 100 million yen (US$930,000) to the Myanmar police for the purpose of purchasing vehicles and wireless equipment for “protecting dignitaries.” The Foreign Ministry claimed the donations would “strengthen the Myanmar police’s ability to carry out public security measures,” create “social stability,” and contribute to Myanmar's “socio-economic development.” “It’s inexplicable that the Japanese government would try to curry favor with Myanmar’s abusive security apparatus by providing financial assistance to the police,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Instead of supporting Myanmar’s police, Japan should be helping the victims of rights abuses and ethnic cleansing by working with other donor governments to hold the security forces accountable.” Myanmar’s police acted as a pillar of repression during Myanmar’s 50 years of military rule, arbitrarily arresting dissidents and student activists, engaging in widespread torture, and creating a climate of fear in the country, Human Rights Watch said. The police remain abusive and unconstrained, in large part because the military-drafted constitution maintains military control of the police. The police operate under the authority of the Home Ministry, which is led by a minister who the constitution mandates must be a serving military officer, and operates under the de facto control of the military..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-07-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Despite the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, Myanmar is still at war with itself as fighting in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states shows no sign of ending. The loss of human life, as well as the material destruction and shattering of local communities caused by the 70-year-long conflict, continues to incur heavy social and economic costs in the country.
While war affects all, it affects men and women differently. In any conflict setting, gender creates expectations and exposes individuals to different dangers and vulnerabilities. In Myanmar’s conflict areas, many boys and men have had first-hand experience of violence as soldiers and live with its physical and psychological consequences. In these regions as well, many girls and women face an acute danger of gender-based violence as their bodies are objectified for war purposes and human trafficking.
The different impacts of war on women and men have to be taken seriously to move the peace process forward and to design policies that address the long-lasting consequences of war. In Myanmar as elsewhere, decentralization is considered as a democratization tool, a means to achieving better government accountability in the delivery of public services and a gateway to women’s participation. The conflict and its political and economic legacies not only perpetuate, but may also reinforce gender practices, inequalities, and discrimination. If gender needs and inequalities are not addressed, the very success of democracy, the peace process, and decentralization in Myanmar will remain unequal for men and women.
In this piece, we bring together evidence from local communities to examine some of the impact of conflict on male and female populations. We collected evidence for this paper in 2018 and 2019 as part of an International Development Research Centre-funded project—a collaborative project between the University of Toronto and the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security. The research team interviewed local stakeholders such as women’s organizations, ethnic armed organizations, politicians, and government officials. It also conducted a survey of 2,747 household heads in Chin, Kachin, Karen, and Magwe (hereafter referred as the UofT-IDRC survey). This paper is not an exhaustive list of the impacts of conflict on gender, but highlights some of the themes that emerged frequently during our work.
Boys and Men: Fighting, Conscription, and Gender Expectations
Civil wars have significant impacts on both men and women. But boys and men often have a particularly direct, first-hand experience of conflict and violence through their experience as soldiers. Many of them have volunteered to join Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) out of loyalty to their ethno-national group and because of feelings of injustice and grievances against the government and the Tatmadaw. But mixed with these motivations are also gendered expectations about the proper behavior for men. Many communities and families expect men to assume the role of “protectors” of the community. In time of crisis, this expectation is only strengthened, which factors heavily in the decision of boys and men to join EAOs. In many communities, there is no stigma in joining an EAO, but boys feel a sense of responsibility toward the community and see their involvement in military activities as a source of respect..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-07-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"...Myanmar, once mysterious to the world after its decades’ long isolation, is marked by diversity and multiple ethnicities, languages and religions. It has been affected by decades of an authoritarian regime and different interconnected layers of conflict, ranging from national-level ethnic political conflicts and the pro-democracy struggle to broader social-level land conflicts and conflicts at the household level, such as domestic violence. In Myanmar, as in other countries, conflict and violence affect men, women, boys, girls and those with diverse gender identities differently. There is increasing awareness that gender is important in understanding conflict and accumulating evidence that links inclusion to the sustainability of peace. A growing number of programmes are dedicated to addressing this. However, the ‘other side of gender’, that is, the experiences of men and boys, is less well understood. Expectations of masculinity are an often overlooked (or over-simplified) driver of conflict and peacebuilding, but can also, if sometimes counter-intuitively, lead to increased vulnerability for men and boys, especially related to violence..."
Date of publication:
2018-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
1.38 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...Myanmar, once mysterious to the world after its decades’ long isolation, is marked by diversity and multiple ethnicities, languages and religions. It has been affected by decades of an authoritarian regime and different interconnected layers of conflict, ranging from national-level ethnic political conflicts and the pro-democracy struggle to broader social-level land conflicts and conflicts at the household level, such as domestic violence. In Myanmar, as in other countries, conflict and violence affect men, women, boys, girls and those with diverse gender identities differently. There is increasing awareness that gender is important in understanding conflict and accumulating evidence that links inclusion to the sustainability of peace. A growing number of programmes are dedicated to addressing this. However, the ‘other side of gender’, that is, the experiences of men and boys, is less well understood. Expectations of masculinity are an often overlooked (or over-simplified) driver of conflict and peacebuilding, but can also, if sometimes counter-intuitively, lead to increased vulnerability for men and boys, especially related to violence..."
Source/publisher:
International Alert
Date of publication:
2018-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
2.56 MB
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Sub-title:
Perspectives from Mon and Kayin States
Description:
"In Myanmar, as in many other parts of the world, politics, conflict and peace negotiations are considered “male domains.” With some exceptions, women’s experiences of armed conflict and contributions to peace are largely unrecognized, undocumented and unaccounted for. But many women who have had distinct experiences of armed conflict are engaging within their communities in creative strategies to mitigate the impact of conflict, make and build enduring peace. However, these efforts are accorded little formal or other recognition by the Government, by ethnic armed organizations and society at large. Women and their priorities are consequently not adequately included in the country’s current peace processes.This publication makes the argument that women’s equal participation with men in all aspects of the peace process and the inclusion of their priorities in the peace agenda would demonstrate the Government of Myanmar’s commitment to constitutional provisions of gender equality and women’s rights, and to international human rights frameworks, that it has endorsed. It would enhance the inclusiveness and sustainability of peace processes. Such a move would also signal responsiveness to calls for inclusion by gender equality and women’s empowerment advocates in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
UN Women
Date of publication:
2015-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports about women of Burma by UN entities, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
5.69 MB
Local URL:
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Topic:
film, sexism, gender, sexual abuse, cinema
Sub-title:
A recently released Myanmar horror film is crassly misogynist in its portrayal of sexual violence, but is part of a much broader trend in an industry dominated by male filmmakers.
Topic:
film, sexism, gender, sexual abuse, cinema
Description:
"WHAT IF Mya Mya, the lead character of the Myanmar horror film of the same name, released on February 6, were to enact revenge on the men who gang-raped her, not by menacing them as a forlorn ghost, but by seeking justice as a tenacious survivor?
For the moment, such a plot turn appears to be beyond the imagination of Myanmar filmmakers, who are virtually all male and prefer to portray women rape victims as either killed in the act or driven inexorably to suicide by the shame. Their death, after all, provides a handy motive for male lead characters to avenge them in thrilling feats of heroism.
One thing that saves the character of Mya Mya – a feisty Yangon factory worker and strike-organiser before her death – from further humiliation is that, while haunting the men who raped and murdered her, she does not do so half-naked, despite what the film’s titillating promotional poster might suggest. However, this is small consolation when the making of the film itself was a feat of sexual exploitation.
When the casting call for the three “rapist” roles was made last July on Facebook, many male users tagged their friends, saying with boorish humour that their friends would make good “rapists” and encouraging them to apply. Auditions for short-listed aspirants took place on September 8 in Yangon’s Kandawgyi Park in full view of the media and public..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women's rights
Language:
more
Description:
"For decades, ethnic women in Myanmar have documented acts of sexual violence committed against them in the hopes that, one day, perpetrators will be held accountable for their crimes. They had reasons for hope as recently as five years ago, when the government of Myanmar endorsed the international Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and Aung Sung Suu Kyi was elected the first woman leader of the country in a historic victory.
Today, violent conflict between military and ethnic groups remains as intense as ever, while wartime sexual and gender-based violence continues unabated and unpunished.
The direct and later indirect rule by the military since 1962 has had a long-term effect on the lives of women in Myanmar. They expected their fundamental rights to be restored under the new quasi-civilian arm of government, led by Suu Kyi. Instead, the web of military presence and business interests in ethnic areas of the country continue to devastate ethnic women.
In August, the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar released a report documenting cases of gang rape, sexual slavery, and other forms of sexual abuse in heavily-militarized areas in several states: Shan, Kachin, and Rakhine. Investigators found that sexual violence has become a regular tactic used against civilians by the Tatmadaw, the official name of the country’s armed forces..."
Source/publisher:
"Women's Media Center" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-11-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women and Politics in Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Sexual orientation - Discrimination based on
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Over generations, China’s one-child policy drove a demographic disaster that has sparked a devastatingly cruel trade.
Description:
"China has a bride trafficking problem. The country’s longstanding one-child policy and preference for boys created a huge gender imbalance. The difficulty many Chinese men now face finding wives, combined with a lack of protections in China, is driving a brutal business of selling women and girls from neighboring countries.
The Chinese government’s main response for many years seemed to be simply to ignore growing allegations about authorities’ complicity in these crimes. But the problem is becoming too big to ignore; the government’s stonewalling is gradually being replaced by a mixture of criminal justice and propaganda responses, neither of which get to the real issue of gender discrimination. The one-child policy, in force from 1979 to 2015, prompted many parents to feel that if they were permitted only one child, that child should be a son. This was driven in part by the expectation, particularly in rural areas, that daughters marry and join their husband’s family, while sons stay with, and support, their parents. Over generations this policy drove a demographic disaster: China now has 30 to 40 million more men than women..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-10-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
People smuggling - international standards and mechanisms, People smuggling - international standards and mechanisms, Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"When it comes to protecting women from violence in Myanmar, what little difference a year makes. Last year during the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Government pledged to submit a Prevention of and Protection from Violence Against Women (PoVAW) Law to Parliament in early 2019 and give “priority and focus” to protecting women and children from violence. As we approach another 16 Days of Activism, the PoVAW law, in the drafting stage since 2013, has not yet been submitted to Parliament, making clear that protecting women from violence is far from a priority or focus for the current Government.
In a country with escalating rates of sexual violence, continued inaction puts women’s lives in jeopardy, and is a sad reminder that the gender inequality that leads to violence against women is also inhibiting the passage of a PoVAW Law which would protect them.
Statistics across Myanmar show an upward trend in reports of sexual violence, and one root cause of sexual violence is gender inequality. In August, a UN investigatory body declared that in Myanmar “[s]exual violence is an outcome of a larger problem of gender inequality and the lack of rule of law.” Myanmar is ranked 150 of 167 countries on the Georgetown Institute of Women Peace and Security’s Women Peace and Security Index and 148 of 189 on the 2018 UN Gender Inequality Index, two recent measures of women’s well-being worldwide..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-11-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Sexual orientation - Discrimination based on, UN (CEDAW) documents on discrimination against women, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar plunged 31 places and remained the worst performer in the region on an index that measures women’s wellbeing and empowerment in homes, communities, and societies, according to a study released today.
Description:
"The Women, Peace and Security Index by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Safety slashed Myanmar’s rank from 119th in 2017 to 150th this year, marking the largest drop ever in the index.
The index ranks 167 countries in terms of inclusion, security and justice for women. It drew data from international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations, the World Bank, and others to provide comprehensive insights into women’s well-being and empowerment in each country.
“[Myanmar’s] rank of 150th reflects, among other things, the worst rate of organised violence in the region,” according to the index, which cited the “systemic, ongoing oppression and gross human rights violations” against minority Muslims in northern Rakhine State.
A woman activist in Myanmar, Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi, said, “I wasn’t surprised the rank dropped while we are in the middle of armed conflicts.”
“The ranking highlights the situation that we all still have to be aware and strive to overcome an imbalanced society,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-10-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Sexual violence carried out by Myanmar's security forces against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority was so widespread and severe that it demonstrates intent to commit genocide as well as warrants prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity, a UN report charged on Thursday (Aug 22).
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said it found the country's soldiers "routinely and systematically employed rape, gang rape and other violent and forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men and transgender people in blatant violation of international human rights law."
Its report on sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar covers the Kachin and Shan ethnic minorities in northern Myanmar as well as the Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine.
The report, released in New York, charges that the genocidal intent of Myanmar's military toward the Rohingya was demonstrated "by means of killing female members of the Rohingya community, causing Rohingya women and girls serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting on the Rohingya women and girls conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Rohingya in whole or in part, and imposing measures that prevented births within the group."
Myanmar's government and military have consistently denied carrying out human rights violations, and said its military operations in Rakhine were justified in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents..."
Source/publisher:
"The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2019-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Sex work, Sexual orientation - Discrimination based on, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms
Language:
more
Description:
"Only a few months ago, Myanmar was shocked with news of the rape of a three-year-old girl who has since been given the pseudonym “Victoria”. Victoria was raped at a private nursery home in May. Then in September, she was able to testify through a video conference and identify her rapist.
“When the court showed the girl the picture of the suspects, she was able to point out the individual on the presented picture, and she was so angry seeing these pictures that she stomped angrily at them with her heel,” Victoria’s lawyer was quoted as saying.
News of the rape sparked outrage throughout Myanmar and brought attention to the rising number of rape cases in the country.
In February 2018, Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs released its previous year’s statistics on rape cases. The ministry reported that rape cases rose from 1,100 in 2016 to 1,405 in 2017, which includes a rise in rapes of adult women from 429 to 508 and rapes of underage girls from 671 to 897.
But more than that, the unfortunate tragedy that befell Victoria also helped to highlight the lack of knowledge regarding sex in Myanmar, as well as the urgent need to stop viewing sex education as a taboo topic but as a necessity.
Hla Hla Win, a former English teacher who founded Myanmar-based 360ed, a social enterprise that seeks to revamp education with technology, was recently quoted as saying that the case was “obvious evidence” that the country needed to seriously think of allowing its citizens to be exposed to the right kind of sex education..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-10-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women's rights
Language:
more
Description:
"“Traffickers target youths who have bad reputations or low moral character more than youths who don’t understand.” This is what Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Director General U Win Naing Tun was quoted as saying recently when talking about human trafficking.
Most human trafficking in Myanmar involves the selling of women as brides to China.
Naing Tun’s words seem, at least at first glance, to have a tinge of victim-blaming in them. Especially as he went on to explain that unlike youth of “low moral character”, other youths could testify against their human traffickers in court, “so they avoid them”.
While it would be unfair to accuse Naing Tun of victim-blaming with such limited information available on the statements he made, it is also true that victim-blaming has been a rampant practice in Myanmar. Even people of authority have been reported as practicing victim-blaming, especially concerning rape.
Back in 2017, in an interview with local news, Lunn Aung San, the head of police in Ah Pyauk, Taukkyi township, said that most cases of sexual assault or abuse arise due to the woman victim’s choices..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-07-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women's rights, Sex work, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Technology could help Myanmar fight a rise in rape cases, says an award-winning entrepreneur who is using augmented reality to bring sex education to the socially conservative country.
The rape in May of a 3-year-old girl at a private nursery has sparked outrage, prompting thousands to take to the streets to demand justice and highlighting a paucity of sex education in the country.
It came as the overall number of rape cases in Myanmar surged from 1,100 in 2016 to more than 1,500 in 2018 — nearly two-thirds involving a child, according to local media quoting government data.
“The case was obvious evidence that we are lacking sex education,” said Hla Hla Win, a former English teacher who founded the Myanmar-based 360ed, a social enterprise that seeks to revamp education with technology.
“It broke the hearts of so many parents but it was also a wake-up call that we can no longer see sex education as a taboo,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
The 38-year-old Harvard graduate was named one of 40 social entrepreneurs of the year by the World Economic Forum in New York last month for her work in transforming the way hundreds of thousands of students learn in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Japan Times" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-10-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Topic:
China, Human Trafficking, Muse, Taunggyi
Topic:
China, Human Trafficking, Muse, Taunggyi
Description:
"A court in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi sentenced a woman accused of human trafficking to 80 years in prison last week, according to police in Muse.
Ma Htay Win was found guilty on four counts of human trafficking, each of which carries a 20-year sentence, according to U Kyaw Nyunt, an officer with an anti-human trafficking police force on the China-Myanmar border. The cases involved three women from Pekon Township and one from Sesai Township, all of whom who were trafficked into China.
Ma Htay Win was charged under Article 28 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law.
U Kyaw Nyunt said that the victims escaped, returned from China and then opened cases against Ma Htay Win.
“When they arrived at the border in Muse, they told us that they were from Pekon so we sent them to Pekon and they opened cases at the Pekon Police Station,” the officer said. “[Ma Htay Win] lured these women and trafficked them to Chinese men. She was the main person involved in this case.” According to the anti-human trafficking police in Muse, many cases have shown that Myanmar women are trafficked into China and then forced to marry Chinese men..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women's rights, Trafficking: global, regional and national reports, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Women and children lengthen their necks with 22-pound brass rings to 'look like dragons' as part of an ancient tribe in Asia.
It is a tradition in the Kayah state in Myanmar, formerly Burma, and makes the Kayan people distinct across ethnic groups in south east Asia.
Some women felt they were unattractive without the rings and others felt the pressure to wear them for visiting tourists.
The rings were used to protect people from being attacked by tigers and others claim they were a tribute to the group's 'dragon mother'.
Rings have also been traditionally seen as symbols of wealth and reserved for favourite daughters, as a more common theory.
Padung author Pascal Khoo Thwe told Channel New Asia that 'our mother was a dragon' and 'they have the same sort of neck'. He claims to have grown up with his grandmother wearing 14-inch high sets of rings.
Mu Lone, 88, told the Mirror how women felt they 'weren't beautiful without neck-rings' in her time..."
Source/publisher:
"Daily Mail" (UK)
Date of publication:
2019-10-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karen (Kayin) State, Children, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Padaung (Kayan)
Language:
more
Description:
"International Conference on Protection of Rohingya Survivors and Accountability for Genocide "Rape as a Weapon of Wars and Genocides, Past and Present in the Region"..."
Source/publisher:
"Free Rohingya Coalition"
Date of publication:
2019-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"Representatives from the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) and UNODC convened for a workshop in Nay Pyi Taw to address necessary areas of reform in the MPF's response to gender based violence - a core tenet of which is the development of Standard Operating Procedures to make responses addressing Gender Based Violence (GBV) more effective.
The workshop marked an important step forward in the Government of Myanmar and the MPF's commitment to tackling the serious issue of GBV in Myanmar, and produced a firm foundation from which to move forward so that UNODC, working together with UNFPA and the MPF, can support the police in Myanmar to develop effective and efficient response guidelines for cases of GBV. Concluding with the commitment to further work on a strategy in the near future, the workshop was met with great optimism from all participants, and represented a decisive first step towards combating GBV in Myanmar.
"Violence against women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights," stated UNODC Myanmar's Country Manager, Mr. Troels Vester. 'UNODC congratulates the MPF for committing to do something about this issue, and thanks the police for taking it seriously."
The MPF Chief of Staff expressed in his opening remarks the MPF's commitment to reform their policies in line with democratic standards, and Mr. Vester recognised that participating in the workshop was the 'first step' towards doing this.
UNODC's National Workshop was designed to introduce the MPF to various response and investigative techniques for responding to cases of GBV. In collaboration with the UNFPA under the joint Women and Girls First Initiative, UNODC will provide support to the MPF to develop guidelines and standard operating procedures for such situations, and eventually draft a standardised response guide for all members of the MPF..."
Source/publisher:
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication:
2017-03-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
"UNODC today launched a new training series tailored for the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) on gender based violence (GBV), which will train officers and police instructors on all aspects of gender awareness and gender based violence, with a focus on case management and victim-oriented investigation techniques. The programme is being implemented by UNODC under the Women and Girls First initiative, which is being managed by UNFPA and of which UNODC an implementing partner.
UNODC has been partnering closely with the MPF to develop an effective response system to GBV by developing police standard operating procedures, training manuals, as well as the review of the police recruitment strategy to promote female participation in the MPF. UNODC will further facilitate training of instructors and frontline officers to prevent and respond to cases of violence against women in Myanmar and its conflict affected regions.
The first training event in Yangon was attended by 36 Myanmar Police Officers, who were actively involved in the learning process. It provided a promising example for future training and reflects the Government of Myanmar's continuing commitment to address violence against women.
In his opening remarks, Brigadier General Mya Win thanked UNODC for organising the session, and highlighted Myanmar's ongoing development process: "In this period of transition towards democracy, we are striving towards equal rights for women, and to respond to crimes against women, it is vital to provide training to the Myanmar Police Force", he said. "Change must start from within, which is why the MPF is trying to achieve greater gender balance by working to ensure that the roles of responsibility are distributed equally between male and female officers." UNODC Myanmar Country Manager Troels Vester drew attention to the gravity and complexity of violence against women by highlighting the fact that one in every two women murdered is killed by an intimate partner or a family member, and investigation in familial situations such as these can be hindered by family history and emotional distress. Despite such difficulties, Mr. Vester expressed his hope that "the training would allow officers to better investigate gender based violence, while respecting human rights."
The three-day workshop will also allow participants to better understand the psychological needs of victims/survivors of GBV. Daw Khin Zar Naing, Assistant Representative at UNFPA, stressed that in preventing violence against women and children, the MPF's important role is not just to protect the life and property of the people, but to also provide "psychological protection". "Those who have grown up in an environment of violence are often being shaped to also become people who perpetrate violence," she said..."
Source/publisher:
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication:
2017-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, Women's rights, Children, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
''On December 9, 2018 the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella organization comprised of 13-member groups, celebrated nineteen years of activism for women. Over 500 people joined the ceremony for the anniversary, which was held at Inya Lake Hotel, Yangon, to pay tribute to generations of reformers and to commemorate the events that happened since December 1999, when the second forum of the Women’s Organization of Burma was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The goal of this summit was to encourage a dialogue that would maintain the spirit of the Pang Long Agreement – an understanding reached in 1947 which sought to make Burma a Union of equal and independent states but was never implemented. The women in attendance at the summit further explored their ideas and views on how to overcome long-ingrained gender stereotypes they believed were holding the country back from progress. A platform was needed to give women of different ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds a voice. Thus, the Women’s League of Burma was established...''
Nang Kham Awn, Maggi Quadrini
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women's rights, Women and Politics in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Another year has drawn to a close and the global calls for the end of violence against women and girls which occur every November 25th on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women are still fresh in our minds. It led us here at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) to reflect on the progress (or lack thereof) we have seen over the past year in Burma in protecting and promoting the rights of women and young girls.
What we have seen has been dissatisfying to say the least. Official police statistics and community-based organizations (CBOs) continue to report an upward trend in reports of sexual violence against both women and children, and the increase in the number of reported cases involving children is particularly troublesome. In February, the Ministry of Home Affairs released crime statistics for 2017, which showed that 1,405 rapes were reported across Burma in 2017, including 897 cases against children—an increase of over 33% from the previous year...''
Janeen Sawatzky
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
Full text only in Burmese. Short "Program
Program Snapshot" in English....."Myanmar has long had a stated commitment to women?s role in public life. It was among the first countries in Asia to grant women the right to vote, in 1935. Myanmar endorsed the Beijing Declaration in 1995 and became a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1997. The National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women 2013?2022 makes women?s equal participation and leadership in governance at all levels a key priority.
But the influence of tradition and widespread ignorance of the law still deny women many of the fruits of Myanmar?s formal commitments to equality.
Now, The Asia Foundation and a local partner have produced a simple guide to women?s legal rights in Myanmar. Key Laws Impacting Women in Myanmar presents all existing laws, rights, and regulations relevant to women in an engaging and easy-to-use handbook. Important laws like those protecting women from violence and discrimination are accompanied by explanations of what constitutes violence and discrimination and resources, such as hotline numbers, for obtaining legal assistance..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2018-08-07
Date of entry/update:
2018-08-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Findings from the Demographic Health Survey (2015-2016) shows how much women and girls (aged 15-49) were subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by their husband or other men. The results of the violence often leave severe physical and psychological health consequences, but these remain unaddressed. Survivors of VAW utilize the health sector more than others, but often not for the abuse itself..."
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2018-02-05
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "From 1962 to 2011 in Burma, the combination of repressive rule by a male-dominated military and a traditional cultural patriarchy had insidious and pervasive long-term negative effects on women?s equality. Decades of repression adversely impacted women?s health, well-being and welfare, ability to participate in politics and political decision-making, and educational, economic and employment opportunities. Moreover, during those six decades the military also waged war in several regions of Burma against various Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), and conflict continues to this day. These long-running conflicts h ave been characterized by human rights abuses against ethnic communities, including se xual violence against ethnic women, and have had a devastating negative impact on the rights and opportunities available to ethnic women. In 2011, the military instituted a process of reform as part of a carefully-orchestrated plan to continue military rule under the guise of democracy. Since this nominally- civilian government (the Government) took power in 2011, women in Burma have experienced limited improvements with respect to fundamental human rights and freedoms but are far from enjoying the rights required by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Burma is a party. After years of ?reform,” significant economic, political and social problems for women remain: widespread poverty and underdevelopment; a lack of legal, administrative and institutional capacity; a governing system that continues to lack true accountability and transparency; ongoing ethnic conflict, including continued human rights abuses and sexual violence by military forces; and pervasive gender inequality. The failure, after five years in office, of the Government to improve women?s rights to substantive equality and non-discrimination demonstrates a disregard for CEDAW?s mandates and compares unfavorably with troubling actions such as continuing sexual violence by the military, the swift passage of the discriminatory Laws on Race & Religion, and the failure to enact a comprehensive violence against women law. This Report focuses the women?s human rights situation in Burma?s ethnic areas, in particular in remote and conflict affected areas where most of WLB?s member organisations are operating. We highlight the ways in which rural and ethnic women in Burma are denied the equality and non-discrimination guarantees provided by CEDAW. While all women in Burma face the same struggle to enjoy their rights under CEDAW, rural and ethnic women face additional hurdles and specific harms such as trafficking, unequal access to education and healthcare, land insecurity and the devastating impact of drug production and trade. Moreover, rural and ethnic women are directly implicated by armed conflict and the quest for peace. This gap between the experiences of women in cities and urban settings versus those of ethic women in rural areas must be understood and taken account when analyzing the status of women?s rights in Burma. This Report seeks to highlight certain significant factors impeding women?s rights throughout the country. First, the military continues to play a powerful role in society and politics. This deeply-entrenched power is provided, in part, by the 2008 Constitution which grants the military complete legal autonomy over its own affairs, placing it outside of any civilian oversight by the executive or legislative branches. Further, the Constitution provides immunity to the military and Government officials for any misdeeds, including conflict-related sexual violence, in office and ensures that all military matters are to be decided solely by the military. Other provisions, such as Parliamentary quotas, ensure that the Military will retain a significant role in the legislative and executive branches. Therefore, the power and domination of the military at all levels of government is guaranteed in the Constitution, and, because the Military enjoys a veto over all Constitutional amendments, this power is unlikely to be reduced in the near future. Second, continued conflict has caused additional suffering for ethnic and rural women. The military has committed human rights abuses, including sexual violence against ethnic women, as part of its offensives in ethnic areas. Part of the conflict stems from a desire to control the vast natural resources in ethnic areas, and the military and its cronies have long-standing and extensive business interests in ethnic regions. Continuing conflict, and the web of military presence and business interests in ethnic areas, has had a devastating effect on women and women?s rights, especially in rural and ethnic areas. Third, part of the lack of progress on women?s equality is due to the woefully inadequate legal system in Burma. First and foremost, the Constitution itself establishes structural barriers to equality, and discriminates outright against women through failing to provide a CEDAW-compliant definition of discrimination and limiting job opportunities for women. It also discriminates against women indirectly by establishing the Parliamentary quotas for the military. Most of the laws that relate specifically to women are outdated, such as the Penal Code of 1861, and many laws, regulations, and policies (including customary law) are disadvantageous and discriminatory towards women. Laws passed since 2011 often did not take women?s concerns into account and some, such as the Laws on Race & Religion, are discriminatory outright. Women also do not enjoy protection from anti-discrimination legislation or a comprehensive violence against women law, which is of particular concern for women victims of conflict-related sexual violence. Moreover, even legal and other rights that are available on paper are often not enforced due to corruption in the legal system, the police force and other governmental authorities. These failures are compounded by a judiciary that is unreliable, susceptible to military influence and corruption, and often unwilling to enforce the rule of law. Outside of the formal legal system, the application of customary laws which are prevalent in rural and ethnic areas can also impede women?s access to justice. These factors present serious obstacles to women?s ability to know or enforce their rights. It is hoped that ensuring women?s equality will be a greater focus of the new NLD-led Government that came to power in April 2016. Given the structural barriers established by the military, including those in the Constitution, reducing the power and influence of the military will be a challenge. To encourage the new Government on the path to ensuring human rights, and women?s rights, it is crucial to provide it with guidelines and signposts for action. Forums such as this CEDAW review are essential to establishing benchmarks for women?s rights and equality, as promised by CEDAW. Rights under CEDAW should be made available, without restriction or further delay, to every woman and girl in Burma, regardless of her region, religion, or ethnicity."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2016-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-07-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Myanmar Documents submitted to CEDAW by civil society organisations, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.73 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "From 1962 to 2011 in Burma, the combination of repressive rule
by a male-dominated military and a traditional cultural patriarchy had insidious and pervasive
long-term negative effects on women?s equality. Decades of repression adversely
impacted women?s health, well-being and welfare, ability to participate in politics
and political decision-making, and educational, economic and employment
opportunities. Moreover, during those six decades the military
also waged war in
several regions of Burma against various Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), and
conflict continues to this day. These long-running conflicts h
ave been characterized
by human rights abuses against ethnic communities, including se
xual violence
against ethnic women, and have had a devastating negative impact on the rights and
opportunities available to ethnic women.
In 2011, the military instituted a process of reform as part of
a carefully-orchestrated
plan to continue military rule under the guise of democracy. Since this nominally-
civilian government (the Government) took power in 2011, women
in Burma have
experienced limited improvements with respect to fundamental human rights and
freedoms but are far from enjoying the rights required by the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which
Burma is a party. After years of ?reform,” significant economic, political and social
problems for women remain:
widespread poverty and underdevelopment; a lack of
legal, administrative and institutional capacity; a governing system that continues
to lack true accountability and transparency; ongoing ethnic conflict, including
continued human rights abuses and sexual violence by military forces; and pervasive
gender inequality. The failure, after five years in office, of
the Government to improve
women?s rights to substantive equality and non-discrimination demonstrates a
disregard for CEDAW?s mandates and compares unfavorably with troubling actions
such as continuing sexual violence by the military, the swift passage of the
discriminatory Laws on Race & Religion, and the failure to enact a comprehensive
violence against women law.
This Report focuses the women?s human rights situation in Burma?s ethnic areas, in
particular in remote and conflict affected areas where most of
WLB?s member
organisations are operating. We highlight the ways in which rural and ethnic women
in Burma are denied the equality and non-discrimination guarantees provided by
CEDAW. While all women in Burma face the same struggle to enjoy their rights
under CEDAW, rural and ethnic women face additional hurdles and
specific harms
such as trafficking, unequal access to education and healthcare, land insecurity and
the devastating impact of drug production and trade. Moreover,
rural and ethnic
women are directly implicated by armed conflict and the quest for peace. This gap
between the experiences of women in cities and urban settings versus those of ethic
women in rural areas must be understood and taken account when
analyzing the
status of women?s rights in Burma.
This Report seeks to highlight certain significant factors impeding women?s rights
throughout the country. First, the military continues to play a
powerful role in
society and politics. This deeply-entrenched power is provided, in part, by the 2008
Constitution which grants the military complete legal autonomy
over its own affairs,
placing it outside of any civilian oversight by the executive or legislative branches.
Further, the Constitution provides immunity to the military and
Government officials
for any misdeeds, including conflict-related sexual violence, in office and ensures
that all military matters are to be decided solely by the military. Other provisions,
such as Parliamentary quotas, ensure that the Military will retain a significant role
in the legislative and executive branches. Therefore, the power
and domination of
the military at all levels of government is guaranteed in the Constitution, and,
because the Military enjoys a veto over all Constitutional amendments, this power is
unlikely to be reduced in the near future.
Second, continued conflict has caused additional suffering for
ethnic and rural
women. The military has committed human rights abuses, including sexual violence
against ethnic women, as part of its offensives in ethnic areas. Part of the conflict
stems from a desire to control the vast natural resources in ethnic areas, and the
military and its cronies have long-standing and extensive business interests in
ethnic regions. Continuing conflict, and the web of military presence and business
interests in ethnic areas, has had a devastating effect on women and women?s rights,
especially in rural and ethnic areas.
Third, part of the lack of progress on women?s equality is due
to the woefully
inadequate legal system in Burma. First and foremost, the Constitution itself
establishes structural barriers to equality, and discriminates
outright against women
through failing to provide a CEDAW-compliant definition of discrimination and
limiting job opportunities for women. It also discriminates against women indirectly
by establishing the Parliamentary quotas for the military. Most
of the laws that
relate specifically to women are outdated, such as the Penal Code of 1861, and many
laws, regulations, and policies (including customary law) are disadvantageous and
discriminatory towards women. Laws passed since 2011 often did
not take women?s
concerns into account and some, such as the Laws on Race & Religion, are
discriminatory outright. Women also do not enjoy protection from anti-discrimination legislation or a comprehensive violence against
women law, which is
of particular concern for women victims of conflict-related sexual violence.
Moreover, even legal and other rights that are available on paper are often not
enforced due to corruption in the legal system, the police force and other
governmental authorities. These failures are compounded by a judiciary that is
unreliable, susceptible to military influence and corruption, and often unwilling to
enforce the rule of law. Outside of the formal legal system, the application of
customary laws which are prevalent in rural and ethnic areas can also impede
women?s access to justice. These factors present serious obstacles to women?s ability
to know or enforce their rights.
It is hoped that ensuring women?s equality will be a greater focus of the new NLD-led Government that came to power in April 2016. Given the structural barriers
established by the military, including those in the Constitution, reducing the power
and influence of the military will be a challenge. To encourage the new Government
on the path to ensuring human rights, and women?s rights, it is
crucial to provide it
with guidelines and signposts for action. Forums such as this
CEDAW review are
essential to establishing benchmarks for women?s rights and equality, as promised
by CEDAW. Rights under CEDAW should be made available, without
restriction or
further delay, to every woman and girl in Burma, regardless of
her region, religion,
or ethnicity."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2016-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-07-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Myanmar Documents submitted to CEDAW by civil society organisations, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.09 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
?If they had hope, they would speak?: The ongoing use of state-sponsored sexual violence in Burma?s ethnic communities?, highlights 118 incidences of gang-rape, rape, and attempted sexual assault that have been documented in Burma since 2010, in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas. This number is believed to be a fraction of the actual number of cases that have taken place. These abuses—which are widespread and systematic—must be investigated, and may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international criminal law..."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2014-11-24
Date of entry/update:
2016-07-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.95 MB
more
Description:
"Kataerina, a Kayan (also known as Padaung) woman from Pyin Soung village in southern Shan State, is now 35 years old and has three daughters. Her life seems smooth for now, but it was tough and full of struggles for food, education and freedom. Kataerina?s story echoes so many voices from the people of Burma, who have had to endure child labour and an ongoing struggle for food and basic living standards. From armed conflict to being locked up and nearly killed by Burmese soldiers, Kataerina?s struggles finally led her to the Thailand-Burma border where she now lives in the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Mae Hong Son Province. From Katarina?s story, you can learn more about the difficulties faced by the Kayan people in eastern Burma, where Kataerina hopes she will not be forced to return to."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of publication:
2015-08-29
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karenni (Kayah) - cultural, political, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Padaung (Kayan), Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Naw Mu Gay, 22, wanted to join the Karen army since a young age. Coming from a large family, Naw Mu Gay?s father found it hard to provide for everyone, having to work on a farm in order to exchange betel nut leaves for rice that was barely enough to feed his family. Attending a school far away from her village, Naw Mu Gay and her siblings had to live with their grandmother in Taungoo, seeing their parents only once a year during the school break. To help the family once her father fell ill, Naw Mu Gay had to drop out of school to work on a farm in the village. She and her family lived in constant fear of the Burma Army, often having to run to the jungle where the family would live in a broken tent, cooking only at night time when the smoke would not lead Burmese soldiers to their hideout. Naw Mu Gay grew up seeing her parents suffer amidst the conflict, and continuously having to run for their lives. This year, finally given the opportunity, Naw Mu Gay decided to join the KNDO (Karen National Defense Organisation), and says that she will rely on her fellow comrades to get through the difficult times that lay ahead."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of publication:
2015-10-05
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Karen State - the human rights situation, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
"New research published on Wednesday offers a heartbreaking picture of the impacts of conflict on women in Burma, revealing systemic defects that cause long-term disadvantage for survivors of violence and other forms of abuse.
An 84-page report titled, ?Opening the box: Women?s Experiences of War, Peace and Impunity,” tells the stories of 29 women from Rangoon Division, Kachin and Karen states who had each suffered some degree of gender-based abuse under Burma?s former military regime.
Their stories, told with staggering candor, include accounts of torture, rape, economic control, destabilized families and glaring failures in the government?s capacity for redress. The report recommended an immediate end to violence against women, implementation of constitutional reforms that would place the military under civilian control and increased efforts to support survivors of abuse...." ("The Irrawaddy" 23 September, 2015)
Source/publisher:
Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
Date of publication:
2015-09-23
Date of entry/update:
2015-09-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.66 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"New research published on Wednesday offers a heartbreaking picture of the impacts of conflict on women in Burma, revealing systemic defects that cause long-term disadvantage for survivors of violence and other forms of abuse. An 84-page report titled, ?Opening the box: Women?s Experiences of War, Peace and Impunity,” tells the stories of 29 women from Rangoon Division, Kachin and Karen states who had each suffered some degree of gender-based abuse under Burma?s former military regime. Their stories, told with staggering candor, include accounts of torture, rape, economic control, destabilized families and glaring failures in the government?s capacity for redress. The report recommended an immediate end to violence against women, implementation of constitutional reforms that would place the military under civilian control and increased efforts to support survivors of abuse...." ("The Irrawaddy" 23 September, 2015).....ဖွင့်နေသောသေတ????ာ:
မြန်မာပြည်ရှိ စစ်ပွဲ၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ပြစ်ဒဏ်မှ
ကင်းလွတ်ခွင့်တို့ကို ဖြတ်သန်းလာခဲ့သော
အမျိုးသမီးများ၏အတွေ့အကြုံများ -
မာတိကာ အမှာစကား... မိမိတို့၏ အ????ကမ်းဖက်မ????မှ အသက်ရှင်လွတ်မြောက်လာသ????အမျိုးသမီးများ... အ????ကမ်းဖက်ခံရမ????မှ အသက်ရှင်လွတ်မြောက်လာသ???? မြန်မာအမျိုးသမီးများ???? မျက်ကွ????်ပြုခံရ သော်လည်း က????က????်ရာမမဲ့ပ????... နည်းလမ်းများ... သေတ????ာ????ဲသို့ စ????းစမ်းခြင်း???? ပ????ိပက????ေ????ကာင့် ????ုးိကျိုးများခံစားနေရသော ကချင်၊ ကရင်အမျိုးသမီးများ နငှ့် နငို င် ေံ ရးအကျ????်းသေ???? ????ာင်းတ၏့ို အခြေအနေ အနစှ ခ် ျုပ????်... ရှာဖွေတွေ့ရှိသော သော့ချက်များ... ဖွင့်နေသောသေတ????ာ???? အမျိုးသမီးတို့၏????ာတ်ေ????ကာင်းများ... အကြံပြုချက်များ
Source/publisher:
Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
Date of publication:
2015-09-23
Date of entry/update:
2015-09-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.42 MB
Local URL:
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"A new report published on 30 June 2015 finds that those women in Myanmar who speak out face harsher censorship and backlash from more sources than men.
?While censorship is already widespread in Myanmar, it is often worse for women as they not only face state barriers, but also cultural and social ones too., Many of these barriers remain either hidden or regarded as so normal that few think about them,” said Ye Htun Naung, ARTICLE 19 Myanmar Programme Manager.
?We found that broadcasters overwhelmingly stereotype Myanmar women as either mothers or weak, vulnerable and vain. We found that the information women need on sexual and reproductive health is denied to them because of ?culture?. We found that women?s voices are almost entirely absent from politics. We found that the so-called ?protectors? of women are often in fact perpetrators, and ?protection? is often actually the control of their voices,” Ye Htun Naung added. .."
Source/publisher:
Article 19
Date of publication:
2015-06-30
Date of entry/update:
2015-07-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
more
Description:
Full report (a preparatory, 14-page report was issued in November 2014).....
"Violence against women is a serious and reprehensible human rights violation that affects the
health, livelihoods and opportunities of women in Myanmar. Civil society actors, government
authorities and international stakeholders increasingly recognize the extent and scope of this issue
across the country. However, there has been little rigorous research among women in Myanmar?s
general population on this topic to-date.
The research presented in this report helps to fill the gap on what is known about women?s
experiences of abuse and violence by their husbands and other men. In carrying out this study
GEN collaborated closely with the Department of Social Welfare. It signals an increased interest
and investment by the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, as well as national
and international actors, to build the evidence base, and enhance activities to respond to and
prevent violence against women across the country...".....
Contents:-
Acknowledgements...
Executive Summary...
Chapter 1: Introduction:
Background and Objectives of the Study;
Literature Review;
Violence against Women in the General Population;
Sexual Violence in Myanmar;
Factors Associated with Women?s Experiences of Violence;
Gaps in the Literature...
Chapter 2: Methodology:
Conceptual Framework;
Defining Violence Against Women;
Violence as a Human Rights Issue;
Socio-ecological Model;
Participatory Approaches;
Conducting Qualitative Research on Violence against Women;
Study Design;
Location and Site Criteria;
Sampling and Participant Recruitment;
In-depth Interview Sampling;
Focus-group Discussion Sampling;
Key Informant Sampling;
Ethical and Safety Procedures;
Analysis Methods;
Strengths and Limitations of the Study;
Validity of the Data;
Sample Demographics...
Chapter 3: Women?s Experiences of Violence:
Intimate Partner Violence;
Emotional Violence;
Economic Abuse;
Physical Violence;
Sexual Violence or Marital Rape;
Cycles and Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence;
Sexual Harassment and Assault;
Groping in Public Spaces;
Sexual Assault or Rape...
Chapter 4: Consequences of Violence against Women:
Mental Health Consequences;
Depression and Emotional Stress;
Attempted Suicide and Suicidal Thoughts;
Anger and Frustration;
Physical Health Consequences;
Bruises, Swelling and Surface Wounds;
Medically ?Severe” Injuries;
Physical Consequences of Emotional Stress;
Sexual and Reproductive Consequences;
Relationship and Family Consequences;
Relationship Stress;
Impact of Violence on Children;
Social Consequences;
The ?Surroundings” and Community Stigma;
Social Anxiety and Isolation...
Chapter 5: Coping Strategies & Help-seeking Behaviour:
Internal Coping Strategies;
Defensive Coping Strategies;
Help-seeking Behaviours;
Talking to Friends, Relatives and Neighbours;
Accessing Legal Support;
Accessing Health Clinics and Medical Services;
Reporting to the Authorities;
Barriers to Disclosure;
Separation, Divorce and Barriers to Leaving;
Divorce and Remarriage;
Barriers to Leaving...
Chapter 6: Features of Abuse and Pathways into Violence:
Individual Level;
Men?s Challenges with Stress, and Masculinity;
Husbands? Alcohol Abuse;
Childhood Experiences of Abuse;
Relationship/Family Level;
Women?s Pathways into Marriage;
Extra-marital Affairs;
Quarrelling and Challenging Male Authority;
Concurrent Forms of Violence;
Community Level;
Community Responses to Intimate Partner Violence;
Unemployment and Economic Stress;
Lack of Public Safety for Women;
Society Level;
Unequal Access to Resources and Opportunities;
Gender Norms in Myanmar;
Norms around Women?s Sexuality and Men?s Access to Women?s Bodies...
Chapter 7: Recommendations...
References...
Annex 1: Glossary.
Source/publisher:
Gender Equality Network (GEN)
Date of publication:
2015-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-02-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.32 MB 2.6 MB
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Description:
The full version of this Briefing Paper will be published in February 2015..... Background: "Violence against women is a serious and reprehensible human rights violation that directly and indirectly affects the health, livelihoods and opportunities of women in Myanmar. Civil society actors, government authorities and international agencies increasingly recognize the extent and scope of this issue across the country. However, there has been little rigorous research conducted on this topic among women in Myanmar?s general population. This qualitative study on violence against women helps to fill the gap on what is known about women?s experiences of abuse and violence by their husbands and other men. This Briefing Paper provides a summary of the research findings from the full report. In carrying out this study, GEN collaborated closely with the Department of Social Welfare. The research was also approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Department of Medical Research, Lower Myanmar. There is increasing interest and investment by the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, as well as national and international actors, to build the evidence base, and to enhance activities to respond to and prevent violence against women across the country. The study was commissioned by GEN, an active inter-agency network, comprising over 100 national and international non-government organisations, civil society organisations, networks and technical resource persons...
Source/publisher:
Gender Equality Network (GEN)
Date of publication:
2014-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ (Metadata: English)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.49 MB 8.31 MB
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Description:
The full version of this Briefing Paper will be published in February 2015.....
Background:
"Violence against women is a serious and reprehensible human rights violation that directly and indirectly affects the health, livelihoods and opportunities of women in Myanmar. Civil society actors, government authorities and international agencies increasingly recognize the extent and scope of this issue across the country. However, there has been little rigorous research conducted on this topic among women in Myanmar?s general population. This qualitative study on violence against women helps to fill the gap on what is known about women?s experiences of abuse and violence by their husbands and other men. This Briefing Paper provides a summary of the research findings from the full report.
In carrying out this study, GEN collaborated closely with the Department of Social Welfare. The research was also approved by the Ethical Review Committee of the Department of Medical Research, Lower Myanmar. There is increasing interest and investment by the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, as well as national and international actors, to build the evidence base, and to enhance activities to respond to and prevent violence against women across the country. The study was commissioned by GEN, an active inter-agency network, comprising over 100 national and international non-government organisations, civil society organisations, networks and technical resource persons..."
Source/publisher:
Gender Equality Network (GEN)
Date of publication:
2014-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.1 MB 3.66 MB
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Description:
"The WLB?s new report, ?If they had hope, they would speak?: The ongoing use of state-sponsored sexual violence in Burma?s ethnic communities?, highlights 118 incidences of gang-rape, rape, and attempted sexual assault that have been documented in Burma since 2010, in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas. This number is believed to be a fraction of the actual number of cases that have taken place. These abuses—which are widespread and systematic—must be investigated, and may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international criminal law..."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma (WLB)
Date of publication:
2014-11-24
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.07 MB
more
Description:
Executive Summary:
"Almost a decade ago, the Women?s League of Burma (WLB) denounced systematic patterns of
sexual crimes committed by the Burma Army against ethnic women and demanded an end to the
prevailing system of impunity. Today WLB is renewing these calls. Three years after a nominally
civilian government came to power; state-sponsored sexual violence continues to threaten the
lives of women in Burma.
Women of Burma endure a broad range of violations; this report focuses on sexual violence, as the
most gendered crime. WLB and its member organizations have gathered documentation showing
that over 100 women have been raped by the Burma Army since the elections of 2010. Due to
restrictions on human rights documentation, WLB believes these are only a fraction of the actual
abuses taking place.
Most cases are linked to the military offensives in Kachin and Northern Shan States since 2011.
The Kachin Women?s Association Thailand (KWAT) documented that 59 women have been victims
of acts of sexual violence committed by Burmese soldiers.
1
The Shan Women?s Action Network
(SWAN) reports 30 cases of sexual violence involving 35 women and girls in the past three years.
2
The incidence of rape correlates with the timing of conflict.
These crimes are more than random, isolated acts by rogue soldiers. Their widespread and
systematic nature indicates a structural pattern: rape is still used as an instrument of war and
oppression. 47 cases were brutal gang rapes, several victims were as young as 8 years old and 28 of
the women were either killed or died of their injuries. Over 38 different battalions are implicated
in these cases, while several battalions are involved across multiple cases and timeframes, and the
incidents took place in at least 35 different townships. These rapes cannot be explained away as a
human impulse gone astray. The use of sexual violence in conflict is a strategy and an act of warfare
that has political and economic dimensions that go beyond individual cases. In Burma, counter-
insurgency tactics designate civilians in ethnic areas as potential threats. Sexual violence is used as
a tool by the Burmese military to demoralize and destroy ethnic communities. Army officers are
not only passively complicit in these sexual crimes but often perpetrators themselves. Combined
with blatant impunity, soldiers are given a ?license to rape?, as SWAN highlighted in 2002.
Several international treaties to which Burma is party, and other sources of international law
applicable to Burma prohibit sexual violence; rape is also criminalized under Burma?s penal code.
But neither international nor domestic laws are enforced effectively. The systematic and widespread
2
use of sexual violence by the Burma Army makes the abuses documented in this report potential
war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law, requiring thorough independent
investigation.
It is high time for Burma?s government to take responsibility and live up to the expectations the
recent changes have created, to restore the dignity that women of Burma deserve. This can only
be achieved through truth and justice for the violence women endure. It necessitates not only an
immediate end to the violence, but also a deep reform of Burma?s legal framework.
Changing the 2008 Constitution, which gives the military the right to independently administer all
its affairs, is the first step towards ensuring justice for the women of Burma. Judicial independence
has to be guaranteed by the constitution, to allow for reform of the judicial system that will ensure
its impartiality. The court-martial system, established by the Constitution to adjudicate all crimes
committed by the military, has an unrestricted mandate and overly broad powers: it needs to be
reformed to place the military under civilian judicial control. In both military and civilian jurisdictions,
victims? access to justice has to be ensured through appropriate complaint mechanisms. At the
moment, the National Human Rights Commission does not have the mandate, capacity and
willingness to address serious human rights violations in an independent and transparent manner.
If the government is serious about its commitments to address violence against women, it should
acknowledge ongoing abuses against ethnic women, sign the recent international declaration for
prevention of sexual violence in conflict, and adopt laws specifically aimed at protecting women
from violence. Recent proposals set out concrete requirements for effective legal protection for
women.
In addition, the government needs to deeply change its political approach to the peace process, in
order to make it a meaningful way to end abuses. Achieving sustainable peace and putting an end
to abuses against women will not happen without women?s representation in the political dialogue
for peace. The fact that almost all the participants involved in the official peace process are male
excludes critical perspectives on peace and conflict, and preserves structural gender inequality.
3
Moreover, it is crucial that the upcoming political dialogue addresses past human rights violations
as well as the role of the army. This includes accepting that, in a free country, the military is subject
to civilian authorities representing the genuine will of the people. Unless and until the military
is placed under civilian control through constitutional amendments, we will not see an end to
militarized sexual violence."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2014-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2014-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.37 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Executive Summary:
"Almost a decade ago, the Women?s League of Burma (WLB) denounced systematic patterns of
sexual crimes committed by the Burma Army against ethnic women and demanded an end to the
prevailing system of impunity. Today WLB is renewing these calls. Three years after a nominally
civilian government came to power; state-sponsored sexual violence continues to threaten the
lives of women in Burma.
Women of Burma endure a broad range of violations; this report focuses on sexual violence, as the
most gendered crime. WLB and its member organizations have gathered documentation showing
that over 100 women have been raped by the Burma Army since the elections of 2010. Due to
restrictions on human rights documentation, WLB believes these are only a fraction of the actual
abuses taking place.
Most cases are linked to the military offensives in Kachin and Northern Shan States since 2011.
The Kachin Women?s Association Thailand (KWAT) documented that 59 women have been victims
of acts of sexual violence committed by Burmese soldiers.1 The Shan Women?s Action Network
(SWAN) reports 30 cases of sexual violence involving 35 women and girls in the past three years.2
The incidence of rape correlates with the timing of conflict.
These crimes are more than random, isolated acts by rogue soldiers. Their widespread and
systematic nature indicates a structural pattern: rape is still used as an instrument of war and
oppression. 47 cases were brutal gang rapes, several victims were as young as 8 years old and 28 of
the women were either killed or died of their injuries. Over 38 different battalions are implicated
in these cases, while several battalions are involved across multiple cases and timeframes, and the
incidents took place in at least 35 different townships. These rapes cannot be explained away as a
human impulse gone astray. The use of sexual violence in conflict is a strategy and an act of warfare
that has political and economic dimensions that go beyond individual cases. In Burma, counterinsurgency
tactics designate civilians in ethnic areas as potential threats. Sexual violence is used as
a tool by the Burmese military to demoralize and destroy ethnic communities. Army officers are
not only passively complicit in these sexual crimes but often perpetrators themselves. Combined
with blatant impunity, soldiers are given a ?license to rape?, as SWAN highlighted in 2002.
Several international treaties to which Burma is party, and other sources of international law
applicable to Burma prohibit sexual violence; rape is also criminalized under Burma?s penal code.
But neither international nor domestic laws are enforced effectively. The systematic and widespread use of sexual violence by the Burma Army makes the abuses documented in this report potential
war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law, requiring thorough independent
investigation.
It is high time for Burma?s government to take responsibility and live up to the expectations the
recent changes have created, to restore the dignity that women of Burma deserve. This can only
be achieved through truth and justice for the violence women endure. It necessitates not only an
immediate end to the violence, but also a deep reform of Burma?s legal framework.
Changing the 2008 Constitution, which gives the military the right to independently administer all
its affairs, is the first step towards ensuring justice for the women of Burma. Judicial independence
has to be guaranteed by the constitution, to allow for reform of the judicial system that will ensure
its impartiality. The court-martial system, established by the Constitution to adjudicate all crimes
committed by the military, has an unrestricted mandate and overly broad powers: it needs to be
reformed to place the military under civilian judicial control. In both military and civilian jurisdictions,
victims? access to justice has to be ensured through appropriate complaint mechanisms. At the
moment, the National Human Rights Commission does not have the mandate, capacity and
willingness to address serious human rights violations in an independent and transparent manner.
If the government is serious about its commitments to address violence against women, it should
acknowledge ongoing abuses against ethnic women, sign the recent international declaration for
prevention of sexual violence in conflict, and adopt laws specifically aimed at protecting women
from violence. Recent proposals set out concrete requirements for effective legal protection for
women.
In addition, the government needs to deeply change its political approach to the peace process, in
order to make it a meaningful way to end abuses. Achieving sustainable peace and putting an end
to abuses against women will not happen without women?s representation in the political dialogue
for peace. The fact that almost all the participants involved in the official peace process are male
excludes critical perspectives on peace and conflict, and preserves structural gender inequality.3
Moreover, it is crucial that the upcoming political dialogue addresses past human rights violations
as well as the role of the army. This includes accepting that, in a free country, the military is subject
to civilian authorities representing the genuine will of the people. Unless and until the military
is placed under civilian control through constitutional amendments, we will not see an end to
militarized sexual violence."
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2014-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2014-01-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.64 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
Summary:
"This report provides an update of atrocities committed by the Burma Army against civilians since it broke its 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) one year ago. It highlights the particular suffering of women during the conflict, who have been forced to be porters, used as sex slaves, gang-raped and killed.
Since the start of the conflict, there has been a huge deployment of Burmese troops into Kachin State and northern Shan State. Currently about 150 battalions are being used to crush the KIA, tripling the number of Burmese troops in the area. These troops have deliberately targeted civilians for abuse, causing villagers to flee in terror, leaving large swathes of countryside depopulated.
There is strong evidence that Burmese troops have used rape systematically as a weapon of war. In the past year, KWAT has documented the rape or sexual assault of at least 43 women and girls, of whom 21 were killed. The rapes have been widespread, occurred in thirteen townships, by ten different battalions. Women have been openly kept as sex slaves by military officers, and gang-raped in church.
There has been complete impunity for these crimes. When the husband of a Kachin woman abducted by the Burmese military tried to press charges, the Naypyidaw Supreme Court dismissed the case without even hearing his evidence.
The continued abuse against civilians has swelled the numbers of internally displaced persons in Kachin State to over 75,000, most of whom are sheltering in makeshift camps along the China border, where little international aid has reached them.
KWAT is calling on the international community to denounce the ongoing human rights abuses, and maintain pressure on the Burmese government to immediately implement a nationwide ceasefire, pull back Burma Army troops from ethnic areas and start dialogue with the United Nationalities Federal Council towards a process of genuine political reform."
Source/publisher:
Kachin Women?s Association Thailand (KWAT)
Date of publication:
2012-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Kachin State - human rights violations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.45 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"With a population of over 50 million people, Burma is
comprised of eight major ethnic nationalities: Burman,
Shan, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Chin, Kachin and Arakan.
Burma?s ethnic groups demand equality, autonomy and
self-determination, but are systematically denied their
rights by the regime. Instead, they are met with human
rights violations: forced labor, forced relocation, religious
persecution, arbitrary arrest and detention, destruction of
thousands of ethnic villages, the driving out of hundreds
of thousands of ethnic civilians to neighboring countries,
and the forced internal displacement of an estimated one
million people.
Worse yet is that Burmese military soldiers are raping
the ethnic women and girls with impunity. Women and
girls from the Shan, Kachin, Chin, Karen, Mon, Karenni
and Arakan states have long suffered under these state-sanctioned
sex crimes. Rape incidents in ethnic areas are
higher than anywhere else in Burma because they are part
of the regime?s strategy to punish the armed resistance
groups or used as a tool to repress various peoples in the
larger agenda of ethnic cleansing.
Although rape has been used by the regime to control the
population for decades, it took years and the courage of
many women to document these crimes. In recent years,
the different women?s groups operating in Burma started
documenting the systematic sexual violence against ethnic
women by the State army soldiers. The total number of
rape victims documented in these reports from Chin,
Shan, Karen, Mon and Kachin states totals 1,859 girls and
women, with some accounts going back as far as 1995.
As a result of these reports, the UN Special Rapporteur
for Human Rights in Burma has repeatedly raised
concerns about the widespread use of sexual violence
by the regime?s troops. However, the military regime and
the ?new?, nominally civilian government of Burma, has
continued to deny this atrocity and the sexual violence
continues.
This report will look into the meaning of ?rape as a
weapon of war?, the way it is used by the Burmese
military and the response that the Burmese government
and the international community could provide to stop
such practice..."
Source/publisher:
Info Birmanie, Swedish Burma Committee
Date of publication:
2012-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Francais, French, English
more
Description:
?When Burmese President Thein Sein took office in March 2011, he said that over 60 years of armed conflict have put Burma?s
ethnic populations through ?the hell of untold miseries.? Just three months later, the Burmese armed forces resumed military
operations against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), leading to serious abuses and a humanitarian crisis affecting tens of
thousands of ethnic Kachin civilians.
?Untold Miseries?: Wartime Abuses and Forced Displacement in Kachin State is based on over 100 interviews in Burma?s Kachin
State and China?s Yunnan province. It details how the Burmese army has killed and tortured civilians, raped women, planted
antipersonnel landmines, and used forced labor on the front lines, including children as young as 14-years-old. Soldiers have
attacked villages, razed homes, and pillaged properties. Burmese authorities have failed to authorize a serious relief effort in
KIA-controlled areas, where most of the 75,000 displaced men, women, and children have sought refuge. The KIA has also been
responsible for serious abuses, including using child soldiers and antipersonnel landmines.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Burmese government to support an independent international mechanism to investigate
violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by all parties to Burma?s ethnic armed conflicts. The government
should also provide United Nations and humanitarian agencies unhindered access to all internally displaced populations, and
make a long-term commitment with humanitarian agencies to authorize relief to populations in need.?
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2012-03-19
Date of entry/update:
2012-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Kachin, Armed conflict in Kachin State - displacement and the humanitarian situation, Armed conflict in Kachin State - hostilities, Armed conflict in Kachin State - human rights violations, Armed conflict in Kachin State - economic factors associated with the conflict, Discrimination against the Kachin, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict, adminstration, development and investment, Burmese refugees in China
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.72 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
Executive Summary: "This report documents how women in the Palaung area are affected by domestic violence and gender discrimination. Survey results collected by PWO show that almost all respondents had experienced or seen physical violence within families in their community, and that physical violence is occurring with alarming frequency, in many cases on an almost daily basis. PWO?s research shows that gender discrimination is widespread in the Palaung area, and that many people?s attitudes conform to traditional gender stereotypes which assume that women must fulfil the role of homemaker and accept sole responsibility for childcare duties. Since the 2010 election, Burma?s military-backed regime has failed to take any effective action to promote women?s rights and gender equality, or to uphold its commitments to CEDAW. Burma remains one of only two ASEAN countries lacking a specific law criminalising domestic violence, and PWO?s research has found that there are no government-led projects to raise awareness of domestic violence and women?s rights in the rural areas of northern Shan State, where the vast majority of the Palaung population live. The ?new? regime has yet to address the economic and social crises fuelling domestic violence in the Palaung area. The economic crisis afflicting the Palaung people as a direct result of the state?s monopoly of the tea industry, as well as the increase in opium cultivation and addiction in the Palaung area since the 2010 election have directly contributed to the problem of domestic violence, as males resort to physical violence as a means of expressing their anger and frustration with their situation. More than five decades of civil war have bred a culture of male domination, fear, and violence in Burma. Palaung people, especially males, have been socialised into this culture, and see violence as a necessary means of asserting their authority over their wives, in the same way as the state uses violence to assert its authority over Burma?s ethnic nationalities. The regime appears to have no intention of bringing an end to Burma?s culture of violence, and continues to wage war against ethnic rebels in northern Shan State. 5 Domestic violence has a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities. Apart from the obvious physical impact of domestic violence, women also suffer psychologically. Domestic violence threatens the stability of the family unit, often has a negative impact on children?s education, and acts as an obstacle to community development. Burma?s military-backed regime needs to recognise domestic violence and gender discrimination as obstacles to achieving a peaceful society in Burma, and to embark upon a program of genuine political reform which addresses the social and economic factors fuelling domestic violence and gender discrimination."
Source/publisher:
Palaung Women?s Organization (PWO)
Date of publication:
2011-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Culture of violence, Reports about women of Burma by national, regional and international NGOs, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, The human impact of drugs and drug policies in Burma
Language:
Burmese
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.91 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
Executive Summary: "This report documents how women in the Palaung area are affected by
domestic violence and gender discrimination. Survey results collected by
PWO show that almost all respondents had experienced or seen physical
violence within families in their community, and that physical violence is
occurring with alarming frequency, in many cases on an almost daily basis.
PWO?s research shows that gender discrimination is widespread in the
Palaung area, and that many people?s attitudes conform to traditional gender
stereotypes which assume that women must fulfi l the role of homemaker
and accept sole responsibility for childcare duties.
Since the 2010 election, Burma?s military-backed regime has failed to take
any effective action to promote women?s rights and gender equality, or
to uphold its commitments to CEDAW. Burma remains one of only two
ASEAN countries lacking a specifi c law criminalising domestic violence,
and PWO?s? research has found that there are no government-led projects to
raise awareness of domestic violence and women?s rights in the rural areas
of northern Shan State, where the vast majority of the Palaung population
live.
The ?new? regime has yet to address the economic and social crises fuelling
domestic violence in the Palaung area. The economic crisis affl icting the
Palaung people as a direct result of the state?s monopoly of the tea industry,
as well as the increase in opium cultivation and addiction in the Palaung area
since the 2010 election have directly contributed to the problem of domestic
violence, as males resort to physical violence as a means of expressing their
anger and frustration with their situation.
More than fi ve decades of civil war have bred a culture of male domination,
fear, and violence in Burma. Palaung people, especially males, have been
socialised into this culture, and see violence as a necessary means of asserting
their authority over their wives, in the same way as the state uses violence
to assert its authority over Burma?s ethnic nationalities. The regime appears
to have no intention of bringing an end to Burma?s culture of violence, and
continues to wage war against ethnic rebels in northern Shan State.
5
Domestic violence has a devastating impact on individuals, families and
communities. Apart from the obvious physical impact of domestic violence,
women also suffer psychologically. Domestic violence threatens the stability
of the family unit, often has a negative impact on children?s education, and
acts as an obstacle to community development.
Burma?s military-backed regime needs to recognise domestic violence
and gender discrimination as obstacles to achieving a peaceful society in
Burma, and to embark upon a program of genuine political reform which
addresses the social and economic factors fuelling domestic violence and
gender discrimination."
Source/publisher:
Palaung Women?s Organisation
Date of publication:
2011-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Culture of violence, Reports about women of Burma by national, regional and international NGOs, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, The human impact of drugs and drug policies in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.5 MB
Local URL:
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Source/publisher:
International Women?s Rights Action Watch
Date of publication:
1999-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
See also the report, "License to Rape" and "A Mockery of Justice", the reply by the authors of "License to Rape" to the present document
Source/publisher:
"The New Light of Myanmar" 24 August 2002
Date of publication:
2002-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
21.1 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"In the Burmese language, Burma?s military is named the Pyithu Tatmadaw, or the People?s Army. The Tatmadaw, according to Burma?s ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), ?safeguards national solidarity and peace.? According to women from Burma?s ethnic nationalities (ethnic minority groups), particularly those living in the ethnic States along Burma?s borders, the Tatmadaw does the opposite. Rather than look to the Tatmadaw for protection, women from the ethnic nationalities flee in fear at the sight of a soldier. A recent investigation by the Women?s Rights Project and Refugees International documents the widespread use of rape by Burma?s soldiers to brutalize women from five different ethnic nationalities..."
Source/publisher:
EarthRights International
Date of publication:
2002-11-26
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The "Licence to Rape" report was launched internationally on 19 June 2002. Following statements in the U.S. Congress and by the U.S. State Department in late June and early July, deploring the use of sexual violence by the Burmese military regime against Shan women, the regime began publicly denouncing the report. In the regime?s first public statement on 3 July 2002, the Burmese Ambassador to the U.S. called the report "unverified testimonies" of "so-called victims." On July 12th and 30th, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) held press conferences, and denounced the report as "fabrications of the insurgents." On 2 August, it was announced that the SPDC had launched an investigation into the report. SPDC Deputy Home Minister Brig-Gen.Thura Myint Maung was quoted in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper as saying that the investigation was being made to "refute�preposterous accusations."
Investigation teams were sent to Shan State from 18-30 August. The teams were led by Brig-General Thura Myint Maung himself, and Dr. Daw Khin Win Shwe, wife of General Khin Nyunt.
On 23 August (before completion of the investigation), the SPDC held a briefing for heads of diplomatic missions and UN agencies in Rangoon, claiming to have found the allegations in the "Licence to Rape" report as "groundless and malicious." *
* http://www3.itu.int/MISSIONS/Myanmar/n020824.htm#3
SWAN refutes the findings of this staged "investigation" by the SPDC. Reports received have revealed that the "investigation" was fraudulent. It is clear that under the current military regime, with no rule of law and no faith in its institutions, no-one will dare testify against perpetrators who have absolute power in their communities. The Burmese army?s "licence to rape" continues (see Appendix II for recent incidences).
SWAN has compiled available evidence to counter the SPDC?s "findings": ..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Women?s Action Network
Date of publication:
2002-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Burma?s army is using rape as a weapon of war against women from Burma?s numerous ethnic groups. Recent international attention on rape by the army has focused on abuses against Shan women. But following a research mission by Refugees International (RI) to the Thai-Burmese border, RI was able to confirm that rape is widespread, affecting women from numerous ethnic groups. In its report titled No Safe Place: Burma?s Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women, RI documented 43 rapes among women from the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Tavoyan and Shan ethnicities. Seventy-five percent of women interviewed in RI focus groups reported knowing someone who had been raped. In nearly one third of the cases, rapes were committed by higher-ranking officers, and in only two cases were any punishments given, these extremely weak. These statistics indicate that there is a permissive attitude towards rape by those overseeing lower ranking soldiers.
Although Burma?s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has denied allegations that its military uses rape as a weapon of war, any admissions of rape have been attributed to rogue elements or the occasional unruly soldier. RI?s report disputes this. "Rape is widespread and committed with impunity, both by officers and lower ranking soldiers. The culture of impunity contributes to an atmosphere in which rape is permissible," said Veronika Martin, advocate for RI. The report goes on to suggest that rape is not only widespread, but also systematic in nature. "Due to the lack of punishment to perpetrators, it leads to the conclusion that the system for protecting civilians is faulty, which in turn suggests the rape is systematic," explained Betsy Apple, a human rights lawyer who worked as a consultant for RI...
This report is the first to look at the issue of rape across ethnic boundaries. It examines the SPDC?s responsibility under international law and whether rape by Burma?s army constitutes War Crimes or other gross violations. The report further emphasizes that rapes are not a deviation, committed by rebel soldiers; they are a pattern of brutal abuse designed to control, terrorize and harm ethnic nationality populations though their women..."
Veronika Martin, Betsy Apple
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of publication:
2003-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
894.16 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Women in Myanmar have been subjected to a wide range of human rights violations, including political imprisonment, torture and rape, forced labour, and forcible relocation, all at the hands of the military authorities. At the same time women have played an active role in the political and economic life of the country. It is the women who manage the family finances and work alongside their male relatives on family farms and in small businesses. Women have been at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement which began in 1988, many of whom were also students or female leaders within opposition political parties. Burman and non-Burman women. List of women in prison.ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced
relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International USA (ASA 16/04/00)
Date of publication:
2000-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Female political prisoners, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
Language:
English
more
Description:
Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of men, women and children, both in ethnic minority areas and in central Myanmar, has taken place for decades. This report examines the torture and ill-treatment of women from ethnic minorities in particular by the tatmadaw (armed forces). Ethnic minorities, who make up a third of the country?s population, mainly live in seven states in the country . . . Amnesty International has documented serious human rights violations by the tatmadaw: extra-judicial executions, "disappearances," torture and cruel treatment of ethnic minority civilians, including the rape and sexual abuse of women. Torture in ethnic minority areas generally takes place in the context of forced labour and portering; forced relocation, and in detention at army camps, military intelligence centres, in people?s homes, fields and villages. Many individuals have died as a result of torture or been killed after being tortured. Force and the threat of force is regularly used to compel members of ethnic minorities to comply with military directives - which may range from orders for villages to relocate; to provide unpaid labourers to military forces; to not harvesting their crops. Torture, including rape, is particularly widespread in those states where armed resistance continues and the army is engaged in counter-insurgency operations against armed groups. ... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2001-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Torture and ill-treatment: reports of incidents in Burma
Language:
English, French
more
Description:
RANGOON, Feb 25, 2010 (IPS) - When Aye Aye (not her real name) leaves her youngest son at home each night, she tells him that she has to work selling snacks. But what Aye actually sells is sex so that her 12-year-old son, a Grade 7 student, can finish his education.
Mon Mon Myat
Source/publisher:
IPS
Date of publication:
2010-02-25
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Sexually-transmitted diseases, Sex work, General studies and surveys on health in Burma, HIV/AIDS - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Women in Burma continued to suffer discrimination and violence throughout 2008, despite
representatives of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
arguing otherwise. The SPDC states that women in Burma enjoy full rights from the moment
they are born and often point to the relatively autonomous role they claim women in Burma
have traditionally enjoyed in any discussions on the rights of women. However, traditional
patriarchal notions about women?s proper role in society have helped foster a climate that
effectively obstructs any advancement towards women?s rights and gender equality.
Women?s abilities are seen as limited, and their activities therefore curtailed. In addition,
recent history has all but destroyed the collective capacity of Burmese women to attain real
equality...Women rarely receive equal pay for equal work and
are severely underrepresented in the civil service and in other decision-making positions.5
Significantly, since the military coup in 1962 women have been barred from any positions
with real political power as these jobs are reserved for the military, which women are all but
banned from.
Domestic laws regarding specific crimes often committed against women, such as domestic
violence and sexual violence, are sorely lacking: there is no law to address domestic
violence and only some sections of the Penal Code dating from 1860 and not changed
since, deal with sexual and gender based violence.6 Recent anti-trafficking laws have been
widely criticised for restricting women?s freedom of movement, as women under 25 have
been prohibited from travelling to neighbouring countries, leaving many vulnerable to relying
on traffickers to cross the borders...A most troubling aspect of women?s rights In Burma has been the continuing reports of
widespread gender-specific sexual violence and abuse committed by military forces in the
border areas. A significant number of rape cases have been documented since 2002. Their
systemic nature has led to concerns of specific targeting of some ethnic and religious
groups. However, the junta denies this, and the practices continue with the ostensible
sanction of those higher up the command chain..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
718.11 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
(Press Release, 27 October 2008):
CEDAW shadow report reveals systemic gender discrimination in
Burma...
"Women?s organizations are today launching a shadow report revealing systemic
gender discrimination in Burma, which will be used to review Burma at the 42nd
Session of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) Committee in Geneva on November 3, 2008.
The Women?s League of Burma, together with other community-based organizations
around Burma?s borders, has compiled extensive data in the report on how the
regime?s failed policies have impacted women and girls, particularly in the areas of
education, health, rural development, and violence against women. The findings
strongly contradict the claims in the country report by the ruling military regime, the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), that women in Burma ?enjoy their
rights even before they are born.”
The report exposes how the regime is profiting from the sale of the country?s natural
resources to build up the military and its GONGOs, and how systematic militarization
and prioritization of military expenditure has reinforced the existing patriarchal
system. It analyzes how the regime?s new constitution not only fails to effectively
promote gender equality, but guarantees that the armed forces, an almost exclusively
male institution, will control a quarter of seats in the government.
The report states: ?The face of public life in Burma is male, because the culture of
Burma today is profoundly militarized. The military presence pervades every village,
town and city, every branch and level of its administration, and every situation
involving power and status.”
The report exposes how national women?s organizations are merely for show. They
are led by wives of SPDC commanders, who promote the regime?s policies and abuse
their power at every level.
The report reiterates that there can be no advancement of the lives of women and girls
in Burma, and no protection and promotion of their rights while the military and its
proxy organizations remain in power.
?The regime?s road map to disciplined democracy is simply a road-map to further
patriarchy,” said Nang Yain (General Secretary of the Women?s League of Burma)
?We need genuine political reform to work for gender equality in Burma.”"
Source/publisher:
Women?s League of Burma
Date of publication:
2008-10-27
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Myanmar Documents submitted to CEDAW by civil society organisations
Language:
English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
2.69 MB 4.1 MB
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Description:
"...these women human rights defenders have been subjected to the following abuses,
in violation of their fundamental human rights as guaranteed under the UN Declaration on
Human Rights, the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders, the International Convention
on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women:
*Attacks on life, bodily and mental integrity ? including torture; hostage-taking?;
sexual assault such as tearing their clothes and sarongs; excessive use of force in
crackdowns on the demonstrations and the subsequent arrests;
* Physical and psychological deprivation of liberty ? such as arbitrary arrests and
detention, forcing many of them to go into hiding for their safety;
* Attacks against personhood and reputations ? which include verbal abuse; slander,
labelling them as terrorists?; smear campaigns through the media; sexuality-baiting,
which is the manipulative use of negative ideas about sexuality to intimidate, humiliate
or embarrass women, with the intention of inhibiting or destroying their political
agendas.
* Invasion of privacy and violations involving personal relationships such as arrest,
detention and intimidation of family members, endangering pregnant women and
separating breastfeeding mothers from their babies;
* Violations of women?s freedom of expression, association and assembly;
* Non-recognition of violations and impunity...."
Source/publisher:
Women's League of Burma
Date of publication:
2007-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2007-11-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
The ongoing rape, murder, torture and forced labour suffered by
women living under the Burmese Military Regime in Karen State... Executive Summary: "This report, "State of Terror" clearly documents the range of human rights abuses that continue
to be perpetrated across Karen State as part of the SPDC?s sustained campaign of terror.
The report focuses in particular on the abuses experienced by women and girls and draws on
over 40001 documented cases of human rights abuses perpetrated by the SPDC. These
case studies provide shocking evidence of the entrenched and widespread abuses
perpetrated against the civilian population of Karen State by the Burmese Military Regime.
Many of the recent accounts of human rights violations which occurred in late 2005 and 2006
provide irrefutable evidence that the SPDC?s attacks during this period have increased and
have deliberately targeted the civilian population. The recent dramatic increase in the number
of internally displaced people (IDPs) as well as in those crossing the border in search of
asylum, bears further testimony to the escalation of attacks on the civilian women, men and
children of Karen State.
The report builds on the findings contained in "Shattering Silences", published by the Karen
Women?s Organisation in April 2004. That report detailed the alarmingly high number of
women and girls who have been raped by the military during the years of the SPDC?s
occupation of Karen State. This new report documents the range of other human rights
abuses experienced by Karen women and girls, in particular those of forced labour and
forced portering. The report locates these atrocities within a human rights framework, to show
the direct link of accountability the SPDC bears for the violations committed in these cases.
It also demonstrates the multiplicity of human rights violations occurring, as forced labour is
often committed in conjunction with other human rights violations such as rape, beating,
mutilation, torture, murder, denial of rights to food, water and shelter, and denial of the right
to legal redress. These human rights abuses occur as part of a strategy designed to terrorise
and subjugate the Karen people, to completely destroy their culture and communities. This
report demonstrates very clearly that it is the women who bear the greatest burden of these
systematic attacks, as they are doubly oppressed both on the grounds of their ethnicity and
their gender.
Attacks have continued in spite of the informal ceasefire agreement reached with the SPDC
in January 2004. It is clear that rather than honouring the agreement, the SPDC have
proceeded with systematic reinforcement of their military infrastructure across Karen State,
bringing in more troops, increasing their stocks of food and ammunition and building army
camps across the state. From this position of increased strength the SPDC have conducted
ongoing attacks on villages across Karen State since September 2005. As this report goes to
press over one year later, it is clear that rather than abating, the intensity of these attacks has
only increased. Karen women and children continue to be killed and raped by SPDC soldiers,
are subjected to forced labour, including portering, and are displaced from their homes. In the
first half of 2006 alone KWO received reports of almost 5,000 villagers being taken as forced
labourers, with over five times that many being forcibly relocated from their villages as their
farms, homes and rice paddies were burned. As a consequence, increasing numbers of refugees are fleeing across the border into Thailand and many, many more are internally
displaced.
The world now knows the full extent of human rights violations being committed by the SPDC,
particularly against women and children from the ethnic groups across Burma. The situation
is past critical. The international community must take immediate action to stop these most
grave atrocities."
Source/publisher:
The Karen Women
Date of publication:
2007-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2007-02-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Karen (Kayin) State, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
673.45 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Deutsche Übersetzung des Artikels "Licence to rape"
Die in Nordthailand im Exil ansässige Menschenrechtsorganisation "Shan Women?s Action Network" (SWAN) erstellte im Mai 2002 einen umfassenden und detaillierten Bericht über die weitverbreitete Anwendung sexueller Gewalt gegen Frauen und Mädchen im Shan Staat (im Nordosten des burmesischen Staatsgebiets). Dieser Bericht trägt den schockierenden Titel:
"License to Rape" - Lizenz zur Vergewaltigung
Der Report belegt detailliert, dass das burmesische Militär in systematischer Weise Vergewaltigungen als Mittel der Kriegsführung gegen das Volk der Shan benutzt
Inhalt
Vergewaltigung als "Kriegswaffe" geduldet
Militarisierung verursacht zunehmende Gefährdung durch Vergewaltigung
Zwangsarbeit
Die Überlebenden
Sexuelle Gewalt als internationales Verbrechen
Shan Herald Agency for News- Deutsche Übersetzung: Freunde der Shan
Source/publisher:
Freunde der Shan
Date of publication:
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-08-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Shan, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Shan (cultural, historical, political) articles
Language:
Deutsch, German
more
Description:
"...This report, "Migrating With Hope: Burmese Women Working In Thailand and
The Sex Industry" attempts to present and highlight the needs, interests, and
realities of undocumented migrant women from Burma working as sex-workers
in Thailand. We look at the lives of women in Burma, the migration processes,
processes of entry into the sex-industry, and factors which govern women's wellbeing
or suffering during the time of migration in Thailand. The authors hope
that the documentation presented will provide useful information to prospective
migrants from Burma. We also hope that it can be used to instigate programmes
to protect the rights of and to provide the necessary services for undocumented
migrant workers, and by doing this, prevent more Burmese women from being
exploited. This report is written in the knowledge that women can become
empowered to make informed choices about their lives. It is also hoped that this
report will provide the general public with information not only about Burmese
migrant women, but also about the situation of undocumented migrant workers
who flee from Burma, a country ruled by a military regime..."
Source/publisher:
Images Asia
Date of publication:
1997-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2005-05-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sex workers, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Sex work, Migrants' rights: reports of violations, Trafficking: Burma-specific material
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
284.25 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"This book contains stories and articles written by women from Burma
participating in a project to aid the process of building peace in their home country.
In particular, the volume arose from a training held in February 2003, entitled
?Building Inner Peace.” This was the second training of the project, with the first
five week training held in March 2002. In the six months following the training, the
participants returned to their communities to conduct workshops in different
countries, including Bangladesh, China, India and Thailand.
The training programs are the implementation of a decision made by
Women?s League of Burma (WLB) at their first conference in December 2000 to
prioritize the peace building process. The WLB is trying to contribute to genuine
peace by broadening the peace process in Burma, beyond the cease-fire agreements
between the armed opposition groups and the military regime. The goal of the WLB
is to contribute to a genuine peace, where all are free, from all forms violence. There
can only be genuine peace when women are free from domestic and sexual violence
in the home and wider community.
The second training took place as the training participants wanted to share
their experiences and to deepen their expertise in peace building techniques and
strengthen their understanding of gender issues. The organizers themselves believe
that an understanding of the nature of violence against women and techniques to
improve personal development will strengthen women, enabling them to better deal
with some of the obstacles they encounter in their work for peace.
This book is part of the breaking of the culture of silence around sexual abuse
and discrimination in the different communities in Burma. It is not a chronicle of
abuse. If anyone is interested in violations, then one only has to read the myriad of
reports on human rights violations for a taste of the systematic violations of the
rights of both women and men in Burma. Rather, this book reflects the attempts of
16 women to understand the particular forms of injustice women experience..."
Source/publisher:
Women as Peacebuilders Team, Women's League of Burma
Date of publication:
2004-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-11-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
" Two organizations, based on the Thai-Burma border, have released an English version of a report on women political prisoners in Burma.
The Burmese Women?s Union (BWU) and the AAPP have worked jointly on the English version of the report and released the Burmese version in February 2004.
At least 1,425 political prisoners are behind bars because of their connections with democratic movements in Burma. Nearly one hundred of these are women, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The 200 page report, entitled "Women Political Prisoners in Burma," expresses the history of women in politics. The report covers common experiences of women in prisons and military intelligence detention centers, food and health conditions in prisons, and torture and human rights violations by prison authorities.
The report also focuses upon conditions of prisoners after release, the SPDC?s Women?s Affair Committee, and movements of the SPDC relating to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). There are testimonies and data regarding 19 former women detainees, and photographs of current and former women political prisoners. The AAPP and the BWU conclude by making some suggestions and demands for change to the SPDC.
Tate Naing, secretary of the AAPP, releasing the report today said, "We want the people in Burma and international organizations to know that several women are in Burmese prisons because of their activities in the democracy movement. The report mentions not only their experiences, but also how they bravely struggled through the many difficulties in the prisons." ...
- Forward;
- Introduction;
- History of Women in Politics;
- Arrest and Imprisonment;
- Sexual Harassment;
- Judgment under the Military Government;
- Torture and Ill Treatment;
- Health;
- Food;
- Reproductive Health;
- Reading in Prison;
- Family Visits;
- Survival;
- Conditions after Release;
- Terrorist Attack on May 30, 2003;
- The Regime?s Women?s Affairs Committee;
- The Regime Neglects the Agreements of CEDAW and Other Conventions on Women;
- Demands to the Military Government in Burma;
- Endnotes...
- Appendices:
(1) Aye Aye Khaing;
(2) Aye Aye Moe;
(3) Aye Aye Thin;
(4) Aye Aye Win (Daw);
(5) Hla Hla Htwe;
(6) Kaythi Aye;
(7) Khin Mar Kyi (Dr);
(8) Khin San Nwe (Daw);
(9) Kyu Kyu Mar (Daw);
(10) Myat Mo Mo Tun;
(11) Myat Sapal Moe;
(12) San San (Daw);
(13) San San Nwe (Tharawaddy);
(14) Than Kywe (Daw);
(15) Thi Thi Aung;
(16) Thida Aye;
(17) Yee Yee Htun;
(18) Yin Yin May (Daw);
(19) Yu Yu Hlaing.
Source/publisher:
Burmese Women
Date of publication:
2004-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2004-10-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English, Burmese
more
Description:
Executive Summary:
"This report 'System of Impunity' documents detailed accounts of sexual violence against
women in all the ethnic states, as well as in central areas of Burma. These stories
demonstrate patterns of continuing widespread, and systematic human rights violations
being perpetrated by the regime?s armed forces and authorities.
Women and girls from different ethnic groups report similar stories of rape, including
gang rape; rape and murder; sexual slavery; and forced ?marriage”. Significantly, almost
all the incidents took place during the last two years, precisely while the regime has been
repeatedly denying the prevalence of military rape in Burma.
These stories bear witness to the fact that, despite the regime?s claims to the contrary,
nothing has changed in Burma. Regardless of their location, be it in the civil war zones,
the ceasefire areas or ?non-conflict” areas, it is clear that no woman or girl is safe from
rape and sexual torture under the current regime. Soldiers, captains, commanders and
other SPDC officials continue to commit rape, gang rape and murder of women and
children, with impunity.
The documented stories demonstrate the systematic and structuralized nature of the
violence, and the climate of impunity which not only enables the military to evade
prosecution for rape and other crimes against civilian women, but also fosters a culture of
continued and escalating violence. Even when crimes are reported no action is taken and
moreover complainants are victimised, threatened or imprisoned. Women and children
continue to be raped, used as sex slaves, tortured and murdered across the country by the
regime?s armed forces and authorities.
It is clear that the rapes and violence are not committed by rogue elements within the
military but are central to the modus operandi of this regime. Structuralized and
systematic human rights violations, including sexual violence, are an inevitable result of
the regime?s policies of military expansion and consolidation of control by all possible
means over a disenfranchised civilian population.
This is why there can be no other solution to the problem of systematic sexual violence in
Burma than an end to military rule. While countries in the region, members of ASEAN,
and particularly Burma?s neighbours, appear willing to overlook human rights issues in
their dealings with Burma, women of Burma wish to highlight that these policies of
constructive engagement have grave repercussions for the citizens of Burma, particularly
women and children. The political support which the regime is gaining from the region is
emboldening it to continue its policies of militarization and accompanying sexual
violence. It is directly placing the lives of women and girls in Burma at risk..."
Source/publisher:
Women's League of Burma (WLB)
Date of publication:
2004-09-04
Date of entry/update:
2004-09-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf doc
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945.36 KB 936 KB
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"Since the military regime took power in 1962, it has put disproportionate resources into maintaining its power and strengthening the military. The result of this and the ongoing civil war is poor infrastructure, inadequate health care and education systems, widespread poverty and a militarized society that puts the needs of the civilian population, particularly women, second to military concerns. The elevation of the military in society has enforced stereotypes about the subordinate status of women while at the same time blocked access to the tools, such as education and health care, women need to attain genuine equality. Although the military regime became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women (CEDAW) in 1997 it has done little more than make token changes, such as the formation of some women?s organizations, to implement the tenets of the convention.
Ethnic women living in conflict areas are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. Health care and education is severely underdeveloped in these areas, including access to family planning methods. Women in these areas are also subject to forced relocations, forced labor, forced portering in war zones, physical abuse and sexual violations. These are directed, primarily, at ethnic minorities seeking autonomy. Women in conflict areas find themselves vulnerable to abuse and lacking in their basic needs which may force them into becoming refugees or migrants..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
120.96 KB
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Description:
Trafficking in women stems from society?s failure to recognize the valueof certain forms of labor, leaving women engaged in them open to every imaginable form of exploitation. Trafficked women need more than pity, argues Jackie Pollock: They need room to find their own solutions to the problems facing their respective professions.
Jackie Pollock
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy, Vol. 9. No. 2
Date of publication:
2001-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Trafficking: Burma-specific material
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
1995-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1994, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
61.29 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Events of 2000. Women in Politics, Health of women from Burma, Women and Forced Labor, Violence against Women, Trafficking of Women, Rape and sexual violence - Partial list of incidents,
"Since the military regime took power in 1962, it has had to put disproportionate resources into maintaining its power and
strengthening the military. The result of this and ongoing civil war is poor infrastructure, inadequate health care and education
systems, widespread poverty and a militarized society that puts the needs of the civilian population, particularly women, second
to military concerns. The elevation of the military in society has enforced stereotypes about the subordinate status of women
while at the same time blocked access to the tools, such as education and health care, that women need to attain genuine
equality. Although the military regime became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women
(CEDAW) in 1997 it has done little more than make token changes, such as the formation of some women?s organizations, to implement it..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2001-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma
Language:
English
Format :
htm htm
Size:
151.43 KB 6.04 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...The elevation of the military in society has enforced stereotypes about the subordinate
status of women while at the same time blocked access to the tools, such as education and health care, that women need to
attain genuine equality. Although the military regime became a party to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of
Women (CEDAW) in 1997 it has done little more than make token changes, such as the formation of some women?s
organizations, to implement the tenets of the convention.
Ethnic women living in conflict areas are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. Health care and education is severely
underdeveloped in these areas, including access to family planning methods. Women in these areas are also subject to forced
relocations, forced labor, forced portering in war zones, physical abuse and sexual violations. These are directed, primarily, at
ethnic minorities seeking autonomy. Women in conflict areas find themselves vulnerable to abuse and lacking in their basic
needs, which may force them into becoming refugees or migrants...."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
120.96 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Buddhist nuns have long played an important role in the country?s spiritual life, despite centuries of discrimination.
Thameechit
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 9
Date of publication:
2000-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Burmese Buddhism and Society, Buddhist women
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
United Nations (CEDAW/C/MMR/1)
Date of publication:
1999-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - UN/Myanmar documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
203.86 KB
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Description:
(CEDAW/C/2000/I/CRP.3/Add.2/Rev.1.)
Source/publisher:
United Nations.
Date of publication:
2000-01-28
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - UN/Myanmar documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
51.29 KB
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Description:
21 January 2000: 1) U Win Mra?s Statement; 2) Questions from the Committee; 3) Response by Myanmar; 4) Shadow Report by the Women?s Organizations of Burma?s Shadow Report Writing Committee: "Burma: The Current State of Women - Conflict Area Specific". Includes recommendations on health, education, violence against women and poverty.
Source/publisher:
"Burma Debate" Vol. VI, No, 4
Date of publication:
2000-01-21
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - UN/Myanmar documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Position paper prepared by
Shan Women�s Action Network (SWAN) for the 59th session of the UN Commission on aHuman Rights.
17 March -25 April, 2003.
"Since 1992, the UNCHR has passed resolutions each year on the situation of human rights in Burma. The reports by the UN Special Rapporteurs on Burma submitted to the UN General Assembly since 1992 have contained an abundance of summaries of testimonies of extreme human rights violations committed by the Burmese military regime, including military rape.]
In the 1994 report, one recommendation reads, "The Government of Myanmar should take the necessary steps to bring the acts of soldiers, including privates and officers, in line with accepted international human rights and humanitarian standards so that they will not commit arbitrary killings, rapes and confiscations of property, or force persons into acts of labour, portering, relocation or otherwise treat persons without respect for their dignity as human beings." The Special Rapporteur on Burma?s 2003 report contains similar recommendations..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Women�s Action Network (SWAN)
Date of publication:
2003-04-09
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Public briefings and oral statements to the CHR by non-governmental organisations, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
htm
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58.33 KB
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Description:
"Many sociologists, anthropologists, and even Burmese politicians have maintained that Burmese women face less gender discrimination than do their sisters in other Southeast Asian countries. Burma's relative isolation for nearly forty years has helped perpetuate this myth, even as women's groups in exile make concerted efforts to debunk it. Despite Burma's ratification of the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), discrimination is apparent in virtually every facet of women's lives. Its consequences are most visible in the country's remote rural areas, populated primarily by ethnic peoples, where gender discrimination is compounded by civil war. Because of the diversity among Burma's 135 officially-recognized ethnic groups, generalizing about them is risky. However, there clearly exists a country-wide pattern to the abuses suffered by Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shah, Kachin, Chin, Arakanese, Rohingya, and other ethnic women.
In naming itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the ruling military junta neatly highlights the two areas in which it most consistently fails the country's citizens: peace and development. Government neglect of social programs diminishes women's access to health care, education, and economic resources, while military campaigns to eliminate ethnic resistance put women's lives and wellbeing under constant threat. For years, even decades, human rights organizations have documented human rights violations against ethnic women in Burma. Only recently have Burmese women's organizations in exile had the means to publicize the lesser-known consequences of oppression for women..."
Brenda Belak
Source/publisher:
"Cultural Survival Quarterly" Issue 24.3
Date of publication:
2000-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The massive influx of migrants from Burma into Thailand is one of the largest migrant populations in Asia. Over one million migrants from Burma are currently residing in Thailand. An ethnically diverse group coming from all over Burma and speaking many different languages, these migrants often lack a common language even among themselves. What they do share are encounters of fear and violence, that affect most facets of their lives.
During 1998, an Assessment of Reproductive and Sexual Health Perspectives, Concerns and Realities of Migrant Workers
from Burma in Thailand was conducted under the guidance of Mahidol University?s Institute of Population and Social Research (IPSR). The recently published results of the study reveal that a fear of violence and a preoccupation with staying safe determines almost every aspect of the migrants? lives, including their health care options and decisions.
The study highlights the extremely limited health services that exist in Burma as well as the problems encountered by migrants in
Thailand such as the ready availability of medicines without access to health services or education. Consequently, people from
Burma suffer from easily treatable conditions, presenting a health care crisis on both sides of the border. Most migrants from
Burma in Thailand reside illegally and are generally unable to communicate in Thai. They are often in situations which leave them
vulnerable to violence and abuse by employers, authorities and even each other. These experiences, coupled with fears of
violence and exploitation, create a vacuum in which the migrants have few or no options for health services. This reality is further
compounded by cultural mores and the lack of basic and reproductive health education, which lead to high maternal mortality and
morbidity rates, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/ AIDS)..."
Therese Caouette
Source/publisher:
"Burma Debate" VOL. VII, NO. 4 WINTER 2000
Date of publication:
2000-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reproductive Health/Gynaecology, Obstetrics, Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Health of migrants from Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
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329.43 KB 1.22 MB
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Description:
Link to the URLs of the individual chapters (pdf):
IMAGES ASIA?S CEDAW PROJECT METHODOLOGY:
THE AIM OF THIS REPORT 11;
THE INTERVIEW PROCESS 11;
OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED DURING RESEARCH 13;
DATA ANALYSIS 14;
OTHER PROJECT AIMS 17.
THE CEDAW & THE GOVERNMENT?S OBLIGATIONS:
THE CEDAW & THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN?S RIGHTS MOVEMENT;
STRUCTURE OF THE CEDAW;
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS;
CEDAW MONITORING MECHANISMS;
THE SPDC AT THE 22ND SESSION OF THE CEDAW...
MEETINGS & MACHINERY: THE GOVERNMENT?S COMMITMENT TO THE CEDAW:
OVERVIEW;
THE BURMESE WAY TO EQUALITY;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
SOCIAL ROLES & GENDER STEREOTYPES:
OVERVIEW;
RELIGION & GENDER DISCRIMINATION;
PRESERVERS OF CULTURE;
FAMILY ROLES;
SOCIAL RELATIONS & BEHAVIOURAL NORMS;
RESTRICTIONS;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:
OVERVIEW;
WOMEN IN WAR;
RELOCATION & DISPLACEMENT;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE & ARMED CONFLICT;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN AREAS OF MILITARY OCCUPATION;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE ACROSS BORDERS: REFUGEES & MIGRANTS;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE COMMUNITY;
REPORTING & PUNISHMENT OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE;
FORCED MARRIAGE;
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE;
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN RELOCATION & REFUGE;
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
WOMEN?S HEALTH:
OVERVIEW;
GOVERNMENT HEALTH SPENDING;
POLICY, LAW & ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATING TO WOMEN?S HEALTH;
EDUCATION ABOUT WOMEN?S HEALTH ISSUES;
ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE;
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH;
MATERNAL HEALTH;
WOMEN & HIV/AIDS 120
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
EDUCATION FOR WOMEN & GIRLS:
OVERVIEW;
WOMEN & ILLITERACY;
CURRENT SCHOOL ATTENDANCE & DROP OUT;
BARRIERS TO EDUCATION;
DISCRIMINATION IN GIRLS? SCHOOLING;
INCENTIVES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION;
VOCATIONAL TRAINING;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
THE ECONOMY & WOMEN?S LABOUR:
OVERVIEW;
THE ECONOMY;
DECISION-MAKING & THE FAMILY INCOME;
CULTURAL STEREOTYPES REGARDING WORK;
RURAL WOMEN;
FORCED LABOUR;
EDUCATION & WORK OPPORTUNITIES;
WOMEN IN THE PAID LABOUR FORCE;
THE CIVIL SERVICE;
THE INFORMAL SECTOR;
THE PRIVATE SECTOR;
LACK OF INFORMAL & PRIVATE SECTOR REGULATION;
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
MIGRATION & TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN & GIRLS:
OVERVIEW;
RESTRICTION ON WOMEN?S FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT;
REGIONAL MIGRATION;
TRAFFICKING;
SEX WORK;
DEPORTATION;
ACTIONS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
WOMEN & THE LAW:
OVERVIEW;
FOUNDATIONS OF THE LAW IN BURMA;
LAWS RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO WOMEN;
THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW;
WOMEN & FAMILY LAW;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
WOMEN?S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS:
OVERVIEW;
RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL FREEDOM;
INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION;
NATIONAL PARTICIPATION;
LOCAL PARTICIPATION;
WOMEN?S PARTICIPATION IN OPPOSITION MOVEMENTS;
CONSEQUENCES OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY;
WOMEN?S POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IN EXILE;
WOMEN IN BURMA?S POLITICAL FUTURE;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS...
CONCLUSION...
BIBLIOGRAPHY...
ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE.
Brenda Belak
Source/publisher:
Images Asia
Date of publication:
2002-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Myanmar Documents submitted to CEDAW by civil society organisations
Language:
English
Format :
htm
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37.69 KB
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This extract offers a brief overview of gender-based violence in Burma and among Burmese refugees in Thailand.
"...Women have been victims of the well-documented and pervasive human rights abuses also suffered by men, including forced
labor on government construction projects, forced portering for the army, summary arrest, torture and extra-judicial execution.
These and other human rights violations are committed sometimes in the course of military operations, but more often as part of
the army?s policy of repression of ethnic minority civilians. Women and girls are specifically targeted for rape and sexual
harassment by soldiers. Many of the areas in Burma where soldiers rape women are not areas of active conflict, though
they may have large numbers of standing troops. There has been little action on the part of the state to reduce the
prevalence of sexual abuse by its military personnel or ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice..." For the full report, covering most parts of the world, follow the link below.
Source/publisher:
International Rescue Committee, Women?s Commission on Refugee Women and Children
Date of publication:
2002-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
37.49 KB
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Description:
"The Burmese military regime?s use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State...This report details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual
violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army
troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001...
The report gives clear evidence that rape is officially condoned as a
?weapon of war? against the civilian populations in Shan State. There
appears to be a concerted strategy by the Burmese army troops to rape
Shan women as part of their anti-insurgency activities. The incidents
detailed were committed by soldiers from 52 different battalions. 83%
of the rapes were committed by officers, usually in front of their own
troops. The rapes involved extreme brutality and often torture such as
beating, mutilation and suffocation. 25% of the rapes resulted in
death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to
local communities...Evidence in this report has revealed that the Burmese military regime is using rape on a systematic and widespread scale as a
?weapon of war? against the ethnic populations in Shan State. It has also illustrated that the increased militarization of the region has
greatly increased the vulnerability of women and girls to rape. Examining the jurisprudence from the ICTY and ICTR on sexual
violence as an international crime, illustrates there is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being
committed by the Burmese army in Shan State.
The rape survivors have no recourse either to legal processes, or to any crisis support inside Shan State. Those fleeing to Thailand
are also denied their right to protection and humanitarian assistance, and are liable to deportation at any time...".....Available in Shan,Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Hindi
Source/publisher:
Shan Human Rights Foundation, Shan Women
Date of publication:
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Shan
Language:
English, Shan, Burmese, Chinese, French, German, Hindi
more
Description:
A substantial and important report.
""Lin Lin" was thirteen years old when she was recruited by an agent for work in Thailand. Her father took $480 from the agent with the understanding that his daughter would pay the loan back out of her earnings. The agent took "Lin Lin" to Bangkok, and three days later she was taken to the Ran Dee Prom brothel. "Lin Lin" did not know what was going on until a man came into her room and started touching her breasts and body and then forced her to have sex. For the next two years, "Lin Lin" worked in various parts of Thailand in four different brothels, all but one owned by the same family. The owners told her she would have to keep prostituting herself until she paid off her father's debt. Her clients, who often included police, paid the owner $4 each time. If she refused a client's demands, she was slapped and threatened by the owner. She worked every day except for the two days off each month she was allowed for her menstrual period. Once she had to borrow money to pay for medicine to treat a painful vaginal infection. This amount was added to her debt. On January 18, 1993 the Crime Suppression Division of the Thai police raided the brothel in which "Lin Lin" worked, and she was taken to a shelter run by a local non-governmental organization. She was fifteen years old, had spent over two years of her young life in compulsory prostitution, and tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV.
"Lin Lin" is just one of thousands of Burmese women and girls who have been trafficked and sold into what amounts to female sexual slavery in Thailand. In the last two years, Thai NGOs estimate that at a minimum, some twenty thousand Burmese women and girls are suffering Lee's fate, or worse, and that ten thousand new recruits come in every year. They are moved from one brothel to another as the demand for new faces dictates, and often end up being sent back to Burma after a year or two to recruit their own successors..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Watch and the Women's Rights Project (Human Rights Watch)
Date of publication:
1993-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Trafficking: Burma-specific material, Trafficking of migrants, Sex workers
Language:
English
more
Description:
International Women's Day statement/open letter to Professor Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on Myanmar of the Commission on Human Rights
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-Burma, Forum-Asia, APWLD, Friends Without Borders
Date of publication:
2003-03-08
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Extracts from the report of the Commission of Inquiry
appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization to examine the
observance by Myanmar of the
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Source/publisher:
ILO Commission of Inquiry
Date of publication:
1998-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma) Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Governing Body of the International Labour Office (English)
Language:
English
Format :
htm
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382.96 KB
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Description:
2 minute 37 second extract from a film by Ellen Bruno. "Screened at Sundance, the film examines the social, cultural and economic forces at work in the trafficking of Burmese girls into prostitution in Thailand. The site also has linked resources - organisations, films, publications, calls to action etc.
Ellen Bruno
Source/publisher:
.brunofilms
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Migrants' rights: reports of violations, Trafficking: Burma-specific material
Language:
English, Thai
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Description:
The Burmese Military and Sexual Violence. " This report seeks to make visible the structural origins of the rape of ethnic Burmese women, with particular attention paid to the institution that nurtures the rapists, the Burmese army. The report is based on primary research consisting of original interviews with defectors from the Burmese army, and villagers who lived in close proximity to the army, often because their villages were occupied by the army. By examining the military structures giving rise to prevalent rape, this report proposes not to absolve the soldier perpetrators of responsibilities for their crimes. Rather, we look for the root causes so we can advocate for institutional change as well as establish individual culpability and argue for individual punishment... Rape by the Burmese military, particularly against ethnic minority women, is an intrinsic component of the conflict in Burma. This report hypothesizes that the prevalence of rape in Burma is enabled by a number of larger cultural factors.
Betsy Apple
Source/publisher:
Earthrights International
Date of publication:
1998-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Nov-Dec 92. Karen F, C: rape of woman in bed with her children; looting; killing.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
Date of publication:
1993-02-01
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
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Date of publication:
1995-09-04
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"Late 92. Karen, men, women, children: Forced portering; killing; torture; forced labour (incl. mine-sweeping); use of human shields (porters forced to put on army uniforms and go ahead of the march); use of porters to carry ammunition to the soldiers during fighting; abandonment of wounded porters; gang rape; old women and children used as porters; inhuiman treatment (beating, deprivation of sleep, food, water and medicine); rape; looting; extortion; women and children forced to do mine-sweeping..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
Date of publication:
1993-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
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Description:
Shwegung Township. Karen women, children: mass gang rape; (including of children and old women; killing; beating of a monk; looting; pillaging (destroying property and burning crops)in a Karen village, which was subsequently abandoned.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
Date of publication:
1992-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
6.12 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Latter half of 92. Karen F: torture; looting; forced labour; extortion; killing; pillaging (burning of houses); details of torture
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
1993-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
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Description:
"We heard, we read, we know.
And we are outraged.
We, from various international and regional organizations, come together to express our
collective disgust and anger over the widespread and systematic use of rape as a
weapon of war by the Burmese military regime. We ask the international community to
take immediate action to end these practices and to protect the victims.
The data that has been documented by the brave women of the Shan Women�s Action
Network (SWAN) and Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), published as �Licence to
Rape�, has brought to public attention what, up until now, has been whispered in fear
throughout the communities that have been ravaged by these acts of terror..."
Source/publisher:
Petition
Date of publication:
2002-08-26
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"Are young Burmese girls working in the brothels of Thailand victims or players in the lucrative sex trade? Perhaps a look at two typical cases can shed light on this question..."
Aung Zaw in Mae Sai, Chiang Mai & Min Zin in Ranong
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 2
Date of publication:
2001-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Trafficking: Burma-specific material, Sex work
Language:
English
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Description:
OVERVIEW;
WOMEN IN WAR;
RELOCATION & DISPLACEMENT;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE & ARMED CONFLICT;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN AREAS OF MILITARY OCCUPATION;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE ACROSS BORDERS: REFUGEES & MIGRANTS;
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE COMMUNITY;
REPORTING & PUNISHMENT OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE;
FORCED MARRIAGE;
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE;
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN RELOCATION & REFUGE;
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS.
Brenda Belak
Source/publisher:
Images Asia
Date of publication:
2002-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Culture of violence
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
744.52 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
WOMEN AND POLITICS: The Democracy Movement,
"Dialogue",
Women's Organisations,
Inside Burma,
Outside Burma;
WOMEN, POVERTY & THE ECONOMY:
Living in Poverty;
SPDC and Poverty;
WOMEN AND EDUCATION:
Access to Basic Education,
Education and Politics;
"Relevant History",
The Re-Opening of Universities;
WOMEN AND HEALTH:
Access to basic health standards and facilities,
Demographics;
HIV/AIDS:
Women, Children & HIV,
HIV/AIDS Prevention,
Family Planning,
Refugees & Migrant Workers;
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:
Rape,
Women outside Burma,
Commercial Sex Workers (CSW);
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SPDC:
BIBLIOGRAPHY;
WHAT YOU CAN DO;
CONTACTS:
Women of Burma Groups,
Groups Working with Women of Burma,
Burma on the Internet;
RESOURCES FROM ALTSEAN-BURMA.
Source/publisher:
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)
Date of publication:
2001-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, ALTSEAN-Burma archive
Language:
English
Format :
htm doc
Size:
285.57 KB 158 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Asia Social Forum, Hyderabad, India, January 2-7-2003...
Statement by Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN)...
"Since the Burmese Army troops began coming into Shan State, they have been
abusing the local populations. Women have always been easy targets, and have been
vulnerable to sexual violence.
Sexual violence serves the multiple purposes of not only terrorizing local
communities onto submission, but also flaunting the power of the dominant troops
over the enemy?s women, and thereby humiliating and demoralizing resistance forces.
It also serves as a ?reward” to troops for fighting..."
Source/publisher:
Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN)
Date of publication:
2003-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2003-03-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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