Mizzima
The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has just released “Voice Up,” A Gendered Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Southeastern Myanmar.
The report is the first in a series that will follow, focusing on the situation of women and children in Southeastern Myanmar throughout the year.
The findings from January to March 2024 show an alarming trend of targeted and indiscriminate violence. Throughout the reporting period in HURFOM target areas, at least eleven women were killed, twenty-three injured, seventeen were arbitrarily arrested and there were two cases of enforced disappearances.
In Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region, we estimate that at least 145 women have been killed since 1 February 2021. In addition, 320 women have been seriously wounded. Nearly 1,500 women have been unlawfully arrested and detained.
HURFOM says that Women in Myanmar are among the majority of those displaced and, as such, face incredibly high rates of being attacked as their villages and communities are destroyed by the Myanmar Army.
The targeted gendered violence and abduction of young women and girls is symptomatic of a broader problem of military impunity, which incites further violations of human rights, according to HURFOM.
It says that the junta has created systems that shield soldiers from accountability and embodies a deeply flawed entity that lacks moral consciousness and compassion for the harm they are willingly perpetrating. They have also long denied and dismissed the lived experiences and trauma of ethnic women whom the Myanmar Army has violated.
According to HURFOM, women in Myanmar have long-faced struggles for equality. And yet – they remain resilient and encouraged to condemn the junta’s attacks against themselves and their communities. Their determination and courage are a testament to their will and commitment to see a genuine and meaningful democracy that respects the rights of all people.
There has been immense, prolonged suffering as the United Nations, ASEAN, and other vital bodies have allowed the people’s perils to be brushed aside. HURFOM amplifies our calls to the international community for accountability mechanisms to be urgently enforced. This includes referring the situation of human rights in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions, and a global arms embargo.
