Women in suffering of poverty, sex industry and forced labour
31 October 2003
Burma
(Myanmar) ratified the CEDAW to ensure the rights of women are
fulfilled in tern of employment and available income. However the
regime’s Women Affairs Committee is unable to improve the
situation of women. Additionally, the armed faction of the regime,
Burmese Army has also forced the women in the rural areas to
contribute their unpaid labour for the army owned infrastructures.
Poverty has forced many women including under aged girls to sell sex
in cities for income. Some pieces of information that highlight the
situation of rural women in southern part of Burma are as below:
I.
Poor women’s hairs on sale
nder the
economic hardship and unemployment among the Burmese and other
non-Burmese ethnic women, some poor women in Mon State and Karen
State, in southern part of Burma sell their hair to beauty business.
A woman with long hair sticking in flowers is a traditional style of
almost women in Burma and long hair women are praised in their
groups.
Beauty business people from Rangoon, the capital of
Burma, came to small towns and villages in Mon State and Karen State,
in southern part of the country and tried to buy hairs from the
women. The women who have the regular income did not sell their
hairs, but many poor women who do not have employment and no regular
income sell their hairs.
The price of hair are sold in
weight. One viss (about 1. 5 kilogram) weight of hair is bought with
200, 000 Kyat (Burmese Currency), which is about 200 US Dollar. Many
women in towns and villages who need money sell their hairs.
It
is a difficult decision for almost women in Burma to sell their
hairs, but they have no choice except to get money. The hair beauty
people came upon their houses and buy their hairs.
Hair
beauty businesses make various types of hair styles to use for women
in wedding ceremony, in fashion shows, beauty contest and in many
ceremonies that are arranged in Rangoon.
Beauty businesses
and fashion businesses booms in Rangoon, they have needed a lot of
raw materials to make various ready-made hairstyles, clothes and
various gold- or silver-wares.
The selling of hairs have
taken place since last year. Some poor women in towns started selling
their hairs and later even the women in the rural villages involved
in selling their hairs.
Most women want to put their hairs as
long as possible because they would like to make their own hairstyle.
However, the women have to sell their hairs for income.
Only
men in all families mainly have to find works to have daily income
and feed the whole families while many women do not have works and
stay at homes.
Under economic management under the rule of
military government in Burma, the percentage of unemployment in towns
and villages have increased and thousands of young men and women
migrate to the neighboring countries to seek works.
II.
Poverty forced under-aged girls to involve in sex service
Daily
income for a woman or girl in Burma (Myanmar) is just only about 200
Kyat (20 cents for US Dollar) even in towns and rural areas. On the
other hand, the unemployment in the towns and rural areas created
poverty in the communities.
After they have to choose to
support their poor families and to have regular income, some young
women in towns also involve in selling sex. Many under aged joined in
towns or cities also work as sex workers to support their families,
who almost jobless and have low income.
“This is the
best way for us to have available income for our families” said
two under aged sex workers from Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.
The brothel service with under-aged girls in Moulmein have
gradually increased confirmed by the local resident. Although the sex
service is illegal and prohibited by laws, however, the brothel
owners bribed to the local police station and military intelligent
and operate their service.
Two under-aged sex workers: Ma O—
M— (15 years old) and Ma T— A—— (16 years
old) are working in a brothel in Hlaing city ward of Moulmein, and
said that their brothel owners have to bribe the local police,
government authorities and military intelligent to safely operate the
brothel.
As a sex worker, they could receive only 500 Kyat
per day and it is a terrible works said by them. However, they could
not get other works besides this work and it is a good income for
women.
Accordingly to the source, not only the local women in
Moulmein are involving in this sex service, women from other areas
especially from Pegu Division, Rangoon Division and upper Burma also
came to Moulmein and work in this service.
Trafficking of
women also occurred in lower part of Burma, and some young aged girls
are brought by traffickers from other areas, outside of Mon State.
Some women and girls are brought to the border areas, bordering with
Thailand, to work as sex workers in mushroomed illegal brothels. Most
women and girls are brought by the traffickers.
In the border
areas, where many traders are buying for sex, it is also a good
business for the brothels. But brothels have to pay expensive bribes
to the local authorities, police and military intelligent. Normally,
the military intelligent has the highest power in towns and border
areas.
III.Women are in
the conscription of forced labour
Although
International Labour Organization (ILO) has appealed to the Burma’s
military regime in Rangoon, State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), to eradicate the practice of forced labour in Burma, which
has taken roots for several years, however, the regime has ‘no
political will’ to stop the use of forced labour. (See the
order of the regime, which has information to eradicate the practice
of forced labour.)
Burmese Army, the military wing of SPDC,
deploys its troops in various parts of ethnic areas of Burma are
still recruiting thousands of local civilians including all ages of
women and even children under 16 years old to contribute their labour
in road construction, dike and dam construction and orchid and rural
plantations.
Although ILO opens its office in Rangoon to get
information about the use of forced labour, however, the ILO
personnels could not travel up to the areas where the local army
battalions of Burmese Army used forced labour.
In the
conscription of forced labour, when most are working in the fields or
farms, the women who are remained at homes especially forced to work
instead of men. The following instance shows how the majority of
women in the rural areas of southern Burma are forced to be in forced
labour.
SPDC’s a military battalion, LIB No. 273 has forced
the majority women in Yebyu Township in the construction of
embankments for dikes in Yebyu Township area, Tenasserim Division,
southern part of Burma.
LIB No. 273 which bases in Township
also forced the villagers nearby to build an embankment that closing
‘Ye-ngan’ stream near Ye-ngan-gyi in Township ara. Lt.
Col. Mee Sar from LIB No. 273 asked the village chairmen from 4
villages in the area to contribute the villagers’ unpaid labour
in the construction.
The conscription of forced labour took
since July 20 and the soldiers took the villagers from an half of the
household numbers in the village from these 4 villages. The
instruction was the villagers have to build three embankments by
crossing a 100 feet width stream, each embankment must have width to
be able for a truck in crossing on it.
When the majority of
men are busy at their farms, women have to go and
work the construction site and contribute their labour. The women
from the villages of Sin-swe, Ye-ngan-gyi, Paya-thon-zu, and
Sin-chaung are forced to construct the embankment.
Beside
forced labour in the embankment construction, the battalion also took
the cattle and other farming equipment from the villagers in
cultivation of their farms. The villagers are also forced to work in
their farms.
Similarly many hundreds of women were forced to
work in the construction of a 15 miles long road from Kaw-bein
village to Kyone-doe in March and April 2003. In this road
construction, over 2000 families from over 30 villages in Kawkareik
Township were forced to construct the road. When many men were busy
in their farms, women are forced to work in the construction.
Under
the self-reliance program, the battalions of Burmese Army involved in
agriculture activities and local civilians are constantly forced
Burma, an underdeveloped country, have not much used machinery in
almost construction and they have constantly used human manual
labour.
IV. Sex for Survival
in Moulmein
(Source: An article from
Independent Mon News Agency)
A local young woman in inner
suburb of Moulmein, capital city of Mon State married to two men as
she is poor but took a risk to save children life. She kept two men
at one home and one rides tri-shaw bike cycle at day -time while the
later man cares a baby at home. She works independently on the corner
of the street in late evening to take an order for herself. It is not
food and drink order but it is an order for sex. “Waiting an
order” is a term that commonly used in town to arrange sex for
local prostitutes illegally in Moulmein city.
Both men knew
her situation and she save money for selling her body to feed
children. Two men ignored her private life. She only accept an order
that makes her own deal through sex brokers and she does not behave
like a sex worker.
“It is so amazing that one of her
men rides trishaw bike and the later one cares baby at home while she
does such thing,” a neighborhood said.
Most poor women who
live in innersuburb in Moulmein such as Zeyarthiri, Tharyaraye,
Thirimyaing and Myaingtharyar work as private prostitutes via local
sex brokers.
Some of them work in local guest- houses to
serve strangers- guests while many of them stay in a dark location in
late evening while they are waiting for an order for selling the
body. “Bi Eime” is also a common language that it is
referred to “Sex House” in local suburb, Mr Nai Kun Kla
said.
Women or girls who work under a sex broker is charged
for Kyat 10000.00 at broker’s house and she earns only half of
amount and broker took 50% of total cash. However, girls or women in
the street do not fixed price as they rarely have customers. Mostly,
customers don’t need to bargain for a sweet sleep in a dark
place on the street. Most poor women make their own way for finding
customers quietly through local friends and they offered sex with
little cash. If there is no regular customer, they face financial
hardship to feed children at home, local resident said.
“In
late evening, they walk in the street in a couple and sometime when
local headmen found them, they bribed them for illegal tax” he
added.
Mr Naing Soe, a local headman of Zeyarthiri suburb knew
venue of sex houses and he forced brokers and sex workers to pay him
cash on hand for not reporting to local police officers and
authority, according to a men who recent visited to Measot, a
Thai-Burma border town.
When local special police (SP-known in
local usage) seek for sex, he (Mr Soe) arranged them with women and
they paid no fee to brokers and women. If for an ordinary man, a
normal price is Kyat 5000.00. Mr. Kla Done, a local businessman from
Moulmein said.
In Thirimangalar area, there are at lest 5-6
girls hang around in teashop. When men are talking about sex, they
approach to them and offer them with win- win solution. “It is
OK for sharing daily food and living cost,” most girls told to
customers, Mr. Done added.
In Thirimyaing and New Town and
Thirimingalar areas, there are about 5-6 girls under eighteen hang
around in a particular location. An experienced man from Moulmein has
been to the areas but he declined to explore detail story. Poor women
and girl who work as hard workers only earn Kyat 300-400 lower than
men. Both men and women could afford for living cost if they have
work every day, if not they face burden for feeding children, a close
watcher said.
“They exchange their own properties such
as clothes or other personal things for cash on hand and they could
not deposit on time, their properties are occupied by creditors, he
added.
Women in rural areas have protection from husbands or
parents for survivals while women in urban areas could not find
protection like them. They could not borrow from each other like
woman in rural areas do for helping hands. Many poor families in
urban areas could not send kids to school while a few children from
rural areas have enrolled to study in the city, a close watcher
said.
As girls could no longer receive support from family for
high school, they drop out before year eight. After young girls have
no jobs for income then local sex brokers approached them for sex
work with good money. When special police officers or military
informers found them for doing illegal sex work, they have no choice
but offered free sex to local officers to avoid a legal
punishment.
Guiding Star, a Mon language Newspaper in Monland
has covered regular women and children at risk in the country while
they have no social welfare support from the government. Rich men and
especially students from rural areas who live in the city have
enjoyed cheap sex while poor women took a risk of HIV/AIDS.
Two
men also took a risk while both of them share the burden of family. A
young woman paid a heavy price for survival of children and family in
town under a corrupt system of authority.
“The Plight of Women and Children in
Burma” (Issue No.3/2003) - Women and Child Rights Project
(Southern Burma)
http://www.rehmonnya.org/wcrp_report.php?category=wcrpreport