Women's security deteriorates amid post-coup conflict: advocacy group

By Admin 29 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
29 October 2024, Sittwe

Women's ability to live in peace and socially secure in Myanmar has worsened due to the military regime's serious human rights violations during the post-coup conflict that has engulfed much of the country.

Since the 2021 coup, all Myanmar people have been struggling with severe human rights violations at the hands of the military, and women's social security in particular is under threat, according to a report released by the Burmese Women's Union (BWU) on October 28.

The report states that women are losing their lives as a result of military's airstrikes, shelling, massacres, arbitrary arrests, and sexual violence including rape and gang rape.

A total of 196 women and girls were killed and 164 were injured at the hands of Myanmar's military regime across the country, including in Arakan State, from July to September, according to data compiled by the BWU.

"Women are being targeted by the military regime because they have to protect their family members and play an important role in the military revolution," the BWU said.

Women have sometimes been commodified in exchange for food, or have been forcibly conscripted into various service capacities by the military and its allies, according to the report.

A total of 13 people - 10 women and three men - were arrested by junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militiamen while working on a farm near Gone Hnyin Sho Village in Sagaing Region's Kanbalu Township on July 5, 2024. The three men were beaten and released, but the women continued to be detained and were bartered for food, according to BWU data.

The BWU said that women taken captive by the military and/or being forced into military service were some of the most salient examples of their deteriorated social security situation.

"Women have no way out and are victims. The perpetrators also go unpunished under military rule. The actions of the military are more than bad," said a women's rights activist.

It has been almost four years since the military took power in Myanmar, and the anti-regime resistance continues on the battlefield and in other ways large and small across the country.