Written by: Grace, USCB Intern
Feature Photo:
Cartoon by an artist from Bruma, depicting girl holding up the three finger salute.
http://www.threefingers.org
While arrests and violence against women in Burma, and particularly those who are participating in CDM are commonplace throughout the country, ethnic minority women and women from rural areas face another level of extreme threats to their lives daily. Since the coup, women and girls in Burma have faced difficulties on multiple fronts, and ethnic minority women bear disproportionate burdens as the junta launches airstrikes and perpetrates violent crimes on ethnic minority regions that commonly go woefully unreported by international media.
As the military initiates more attacks on Karenni State, artillery shells are used to target villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. On the night of January 17, 2022, the military launched airstrikes over an IDP camp in Ree Khee Bu village in Hpruso Township. In the attack, two sisters, aged 12 and 15, were killed after their bodies were ripped apart by the artillery. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl was included among those killed by artillery fire in Sagaing in early February 2022. Under the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Burma signed in 1991, “governments must make sure that children survive and develop in the best possible way.” However, the world only continues to watch as the Burmese junta breaks these international laws, and despite the desperate need for a no-fly-zone and a global arms embargo.
Photo: Myanmar Now
As witnessed during the atrocities of the Rohingya genocide, the Burmese military regularly utilizes sexual violence in its campaign of violence and rape as a weapon of war to dehumanize and demoralize women. Since the coup, gender abuse and gender-based discrimination has noticeably increased, with women facing disproportionate gender-based violence in ethnic minority regions. A 62-year-old woman was raped in Kutkai Township, Shan State by a junta soldier, and other cases of sexual abuse have taken place in Chin State. The military has also committed massacres along with increasing violence against rural areas in central Burma. In early March 2022, a 42-year-old woman who was fleeing the junta’s heavy gunfire in Pauk Township, Magwe Region with her 4-year-old and 11-year-old daughters, was raped and killed by the military soldiers, who also killed her daughters afterwards.
These increasingly brutal and unjust actions by the Burmese military, including airstrikes and the extreme gender-based violence, also leave behind mental trauma for the women who witness such atrocities, and who are still fleeing bombings and massacres. These are not only grim statistics but also evidence of the countless lives that are affected on the ground. The people who face continuous hardships each day are still trying to find a way to survive without having access to mental health services or other essential food and supplies.
Women also face difficulties on multiple other aspects, with women in prison being denied proper sanitary aid and medical care. The two-year-old daughter of a woman detainee passed away in Thandwe prison in February 2022. Recently, atrocities inside Dawei prison have also been reported, with incarcerated women being denied medical healthcare for chronic and severe health issues. A letter received from Insein Prison earlier this month also revealed the abysmal conditions inside. Mya Kyu Kyu Thein, one of eight people injured after military cars ran into a crowd in Kyimindaing Township in early December 2021, has “suffered from severe untreated headaches and nosebleeds in detention” while being denied medical treatment.
Photo: News WWC
Women in Burma, however, have continued to prove their unyielding power against injustice. Despite the military’s continued assault on their rights, the women of Burma are fighting to claim their power back. Women from many backgrounds make up substantial roles in the revolution by taking up arms to defend their people from the military, protesting against the junta regime, or supporting the fight for democracy in their own way. “As women, we are the most at risk under the military but however large or small, our place is in the revolution,” said Daisy, a former school teacher. Women in Burma have shown their power and dignity through acts of resistance. When the revolution ends, the irreplaceable work and role of women in the Spring Revolution should be honored and commemorated. As other parts of the world also fight against their own injustices, the women of Burma continue to inspire with their courage. On a day honoring the achievements of women internationally, the world must also recognize the atrocities committed against women in Burma on a daily basis, and stand in solidarity with all the women of Burma who are continuing to bravely defy the illegitimate military regime.
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