"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..."