Under Attack: Women’s Peace and Security in Burma

On 1 February 2021, the military deliberately sabotaged the prospects for democracy when they attempted a coup. Senior politicians and newly elected Members of Parliament were quickly detained and arbitrarily arrested. Those who escaped the junta’s grasp fled, and many remain in exile as their names circulate on military-sponsored wanted lists. Widespread opposition to the hijacking of the November 2020 national elections emerged, and it wasn’t long before protests flooded the country’s streets.

The gendered impacts of the junta’s violence over the last four and a half years have had alarming effects on the safety of young women and girls. Their rights and freedoms are being regularly undermined as aerial and ground strikes from the military junta escalate, especially in areas where the opposition holds significant bases and territory. More than four years after the attempted coup in Burma, women and girls are still facing immense risks to their safety. The military junta has openly ignored concerns for women’s rights, their protection, and their calls for reforms to laws that have discriminated against their potential and well-being.

Patriarchal norms have long challenged women’s rights. In addition, the severe humanitarian crisis following the 2021 military coup, and ongoing gender-based violence, which includes arbitrary arrests, movement restrictions, and limited access to resources, as well as other rights violations. Among the current barriers threatening women’s safety are the ongoing conflict, forced conscription and the sham election. Militarization across Burma’s various States and Regions has made it so difficult to survive that no place has been granted safe and secure from the threat of an indiscriminate attack.