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Sex-based violence against women and girls in Myanmar

May 7, 2025/in News

Mizzima NGO Human Rights Myanmar says Myanmar’s military systematically uses sex-based violence to subjugate women and girls, intensifying since the 2021 coup, according to a report released on 5 May. At least 380 women have been intentionally targeted and killed, some burned alive or executed in custody, while over 500 have faced sexual violence, including […]

Sagaing Aftershock, Airstrikes, and a Humanitarian Collapse

May 6, 2025/in News

Antonio Graceffo According to propaganda from Chinese state media and Burma’s junta-controlled outlet, The Global New Light of Myanmar, post-earthquake debris clearance is reportedly progressing rapidly, with 80% completion claimed in Mandalay and 50% in Sagaing. But the reality on the ground tells a different story: millions remain exposed to displacement, searing heat, early monsoon […]

Sex-based violence against women and girls in Myanmar

May 7, 2025/in News

Sagaing Aftershock, Airstrikes, and a Humanitarian Collapse

May 6, 2025/in News

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Sex-based violence against women and girls in Myanmar

May 7, 2025/in News

Mizzima

NGO Human Rights Myanmar says Myanmar’s military systematically uses sex-based violence to subjugate women and girls, intensifying since the 2021 coup, according to a report released on 5 May.

At least 380 women have been intentionally targeted and killed, some burned alive or executed in custody, while over 500 have faced sexual violence, including rape. This deliberate strategy, rooted in patriarchy and militarisation, aims to silence dissent and erase women from public life.

The NGO’s report demands international accountability, survivor protection, and action against these potential crimes against humanity.

The following are the key points:

In Myanmar, violence against women and girls is deeply entrenched in patriarchal norms and has been exacerbated by the military coup. Since 2021, women and girls have faced extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, sexual violence, and torture. These acts are not incidental but represent a deliberate strategy to reinforce male dominance, silence dissent, and instill fear.

Targeted killings of women

In addition to the hundreds of women killed by indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes against civilian areas, at least 380 women and girls have been specifically targeted and unlawfully killed by the military.[1] Of these, at least 216 were shot, including 50 who were summarily executed. The targeting of women for execution constitutes a grave violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which enshrines the right to life.

At least 119 of the 380 women specifically killed were held in custody by the military at the time of their deaths, including 28 who were shot. The deprivation of liberty without due process, combined with summary executions of detainees, amounts to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. These acts violate the prohibition against arbitrary deprivation of life under international law and reflect a broader pattern of targeted violence against women as a means of punishment and control. The military’s systematic impunity for these killings further entrenches structural discrimination against women and girls.

Sex-based factors in killings

Among the most egregious acts of violence, at least 71 women and girls were killed by being set on fire. This method of execution is particularly significant in the context of sex-based violence. Burning is not merely a form of execution; it is an act that seeks to dehumanise and obliterate women’s identity and is often used to conceal evidence of sexual violence. The mutilation and destruction of women’s bodies serve to erase evidence of sexual crimes and further terrorise affected communities.

Similarly, at least one woman has been killed by the military through beheading, a method of execution that carries profound symbolic significance. Historically, beheading has been associated with the suppression of female agency and the enforcement of patriarchal control. It represents an attempt to silence women physically and symbolically, reinforcing the idea that those who challenge traditional power structures or assume leadership roles must be eliminated in a demonstrative manner.

Sexual violence and rape

Beyond the methods of killing, some of the 380 women and girls were subjected to sexual violence, including rape, before their deaths. Sexual violence is one of the most direct and severe forms of sex-based violence, as it specifically targets women and girls based on their sex, reducing them to instruments of subjugation and humiliation. Rape has been systematically used in Myanmar as a weapon of war, an assertion of dominance, and a means of political and ethnic persecution. Sexual violence is often used not only as an attack on individual women but as a strategic tool to break communities and enforce patriarchal hierarchies.

While the full scale of sexual violence remains difficult to determine due to the lack of independent monitoring and the military’s deliberate obstruction of accountability mechanisms, credible information indicates that at least 500 women have been subjected to sexual violence and rape.[2] At least 16 women and girls were raped while in custody before being killed.[3] The true number is likely far higher. The military’s use of detention as a space for sexual violence before execution is a pattern documented in other conflicts and constitutes torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The systematic nature of these violations, combined with their targeting of women and girls based on sex, could amount to crimes against humanity.

Structural aggravating factors

Certain factors exacerbate the nature, likelihood, and impact of sex-based violence against women and girls. Each factor is also increased by intersectional oppression, such as based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, and disability, shaping vulnerabilities to sex-based violence. In Myanmar, three major aggravating factors have intensified since the military takeover in February 2021.

Patriarchy

Deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and values permeate Myanmar’s social, political, economic, educational, cultural, and legal structures, reinforcing gender-based discrimination and worsening sex-based violence against women and girls. Women and girls experience additional layers of exclusion due to their lack of access to power and privilege, rigid sex roles, and systemic discriminatory policies and practices. Ethno-nationalists claim that women are “naturally” weaker. Their autonomy is restricted under the pretence of “protection” by families, communities, and the State. Those who challenge these limitations—through their thoughts, speech, or actions—are accused of threatening Myanmar’s “traditional values,” endorsing “Westernisation,” harbouring hostility toward men, or even suffering from mental instability. The military coup has further entrenched patriarchal control, particularly because the military itself remains an institution dominated by men, with very few women in leadership positions.

Militarisation

Myanmar’s long-standing militarisation has embedded military values, structures, and behaviour across society, governance, the economy, education, and the legal system. This has reinforced patriarchal dominance, prioritised State security over human rights, and normalised the use of force as a means of control. Militarisation increases the risks for women and girls who assert their rights. Any deviation from traditional sex-based roles or any form of expression that challenges male dominance is labelled as “undisciplined” or subversive. In extreme cases, women and girls who assert themselves are depicted as threats to public order, as agents of foreign influence, or as “traitors” to the state. Under this militarised framework, any perceived challenge to the status quo—regardless of its severity—is met with force, whether from State authorities, community actors, or even family members.

Extremism

Religious and ethno-nationalist extremism further exacerbates discrimination against women and girls by justifying their oppression under moral and ideological pretexts. Extreme elements exist within Myanmar’s religious communities, with some groups actively encouraged by the military since the 2021 coup as part of a divide-and-rule strategy aimed at fuelling communal tensions. Extremism serves as an aggravating factor because it provides an ethical and religious rationale for suppressing women’s rights. Women and girls who defy traditional sex-based roles are cast as being “against” religious values. They are portrayed as “bad” wives and mothers, “immoral” daughters and sisters, and as bringing “shame” upon their communities. By disguising sex-based oppression as religious doctrine, extremism legitimises the control, subjugation, and punishment of women and girls, further entrenching patriarchal dominance in Myanmar.

Sagaing Aftershock, Airstrikes, and a Humanitarian Collapse

May 6, 2025/in News

Antonio Graceffo

According to propaganda from Chinese state media and Burma’s junta-controlled outlet, The Global New Light of Myanmar, post-earthquake debris clearance is reportedly progressing rapidly, with 80% completion claimed in Mandalay and 50% in Sagaing. But the reality on the ground tells a different story: millions remain exposed to displacement, searing heat, early monsoon rains, rising disease outbreaks, and a severe lack of shelter, food, and medical care.

More than a month after the 7.7-magnitude twin earthquakes struck central Burma on March 28, the country is spiraling deeper into crisis. Over 3,800 people were killed, more than 11,000 injured, and at least 55,000 homes destroyed or damaged across multiple regions, including Sagaing, one of the hardest-hit areas. Families already displaced by four years of civil war now find themselves living in makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements and no reliable access to health or sanitation services.

The United Nations estimates that 6.3 million people are in urgent need, and nearly 20 million, over one-third of the population, require humanitarian assistance. Yet of the $275 million requested under the UN’s earthquake response plan, just $34 million has been received, only 12 percent of the total. Relief efforts remain drastically underfunded and unable to meet the scale of need, particularly in areas like Sagaing, where the junta has severely restricted access to international aid.

Despite publicly declaring a ceasefire to facilitate relief, the military regime has instead intensified its attacks. Since the earthquake, the junta has launched at least 243 assaults—including 171 airstrikes, killing more than 200 civilians, according to the UN. These continued strikes, coupled with a blockade on international aid, have transformed a natural disaster into a man-made humanitarian collapse, placing civilians and humanitarian workers at further risk.

Aid efforts remain drastically underfunded and insufficient. Humanitarian agencies have reached just 600,000 people with clean water, 500,000 with food, and only 100,000 with emergency shelter—nowhere near enough given the scale of need. Over 450,000 people require urgent medical care, yet only 33,600 have been reached. Delayed rubble clearance has created mosquito breeding grounds, increasing the risk of malaria, dengue, and cholera in nine high-risk townships across quake-affected zones. Without immediate funding and full access, aid workers warn that thousands more lives remain in jeopardy.

While the entire country has been shaken by disaster, nowhere is the crisis more acute than in Sagaing. Even before the earthquake, the region was already among the most fragile in Burma, racked by four years of war, mass displacement, and economic collapse. Nearly 1.3 million internally displaced people were already sheltering in the region, many having fled repeated waves of violence. The local economy had cratered: over 40% of households reported income loss in 2023, and 74% were living below the minimum expenditure threshold. Food insecurity had reached crisis levels, with rice prices rising 214% since 2021 and a 19% drop in cultivated farmland due to conflict and displacement. Essential services like education and healthcare had collapsed, 56% of children were out of school, and Sagaing had the highest rate of unmet healthcare needs in the country.

The earthquake pushed this already dire situation into full collapse. Weakened infrastructure was destroyed or rendered unusable. With only 35% of the population having internet access and frequent power outages, communication, remote education, and emergency coordination remain severely limited. Women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence, trafficking, and social exclusion, particularly in overcrowded displacement camps.

Youth face an especially bleak future. With schools closed, jobs vanished, and communities destabilized by war, many young people are trapped in a cycle of fear and uncertainty. Some have joined the armed resistance, while others fall into dangerous informal labor. Even before the quake, over 78% of youth reported stress or anxiety driven by economic hardship and political instability. With education interrupted and trauma ongoing, an entire generation risks being left behind, under-skilled, disconnected, and psychologically scarred.

At the same time, Sagaing’s environmental crisis has worsened. Located in the heart of Burma’s Dry Zone, the region regularly faces extreme heat, with temperatures reaching a record 48°C in 2024. Deforestation and erratic rainfall have intensified riverine flooding, particularly along the Chindwin River, with some townships losing over 40% of their forest cover since 2021. Illegal gold and rare earth mining operations have poisoned rivers, degraded farmland, and accelerated displacement. The result is an ecological collapse makes Sagaing one of the most climate-stressed and conflict-afflicted regions in the country.

Since the quake, conditions on the ground have only deteriorated further. In Sagaing Township, survivors continue to sleep outdoors, as aftershocks and structural damage have rendered buildings unsafe. Meanwhile, the junta has continued its bombing campaign, now increasingly relying on paramotor aircraft, or motorized paragliders, to carry out strikes in place of aging jets. Between March 28 and April 24, Myanmar Witness documented at least 24 attacks in Sagaing, the highest number in the country.

On April 1, the Indaw Myoma Monastery in Wuntho Township was bombed, killing two civilians. On April 9, Nan Khan village tract was hit twice in a single day, reportedly killing more than 20 civilians, including children. Between April 8 and 19, a resistance fighter from Kani Township recorded 31 airstrikes, including 24 in a single day on Thingyan Ah Kya day, targeting monasteries, homes, a school, and a cowshed. On April 23, another strike on Let Hloke village in Tabayin Township killed five civilians, among them a 13-year-old girl and an 80-year-old woman. These attacks underscore that for many in Sagaing, the earthquake was not the end of the suffering, but the beginning of something even worse.

Unless the international community applies real pressure on the junta and dramatically scales up unrestricted aid, Sagaing’s survivors will continue to suffer, not only from the aftermath of the earthquake that destroyed their homes, but from the military government and the civil war that continues to crush their lives.

The junta’s ongoing bombing campaign, refusal to allow unimpeded aid, and targeting of civilians, even after declaring a ceasefire, have turned the earthquake into a man-made collapse. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that “humanitarian aid must be able to reach those in need without impediment,” and that the military must stop “futile investment in force” and commit to “a genuine and permanent nationwide halt to hostilities.”

Burma needs more than temporary fixes. It needs the restoration of democracy and the rule of law. This earthquake could be the moment that finally draws global action. Or it could become just one more blow to a people ground into the earth by military rule, and one more failure of the international community to bring about real change.

Antonio Graceffo is an economist and China expert who has reported extensively on Burma.

Mizzima

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ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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