The Burmese Women’s Union (BWU) released a report documenting sexual violence-related incidents in the BWU’s five target areas of Karenni State and Sagaing, Magway, Bago, and Ayeyarwady regions since the 2021 coup.
In the report, released on 17 June, BWU documented 59 cases that took place between the February 2021 coup and April 2023. There were 36 cases of sexual violence and 23 cases of domestic violence, including adultery.
Ma Thwe Zin Toe, a Burmese Women's Union spokesperson said: “We wanted to point out sexual violence cases as well as to reduce [the number of] those who commit sexual violence. We also like to highlight the ineffectiveness of dealing with these violations.”
The cases in the report have been divided into three sections, those committed by the military junta, those committed by other armed organisations and those committed by civilians.
BWU recorded nine cases of sexual violence and sexual harassment committed by military soldiers. These included cases where military involvement was suspected, but not proved, because the bodies of the victims were found near military bases.
BWU recorded four cases of sexual violence and harassment committed against seven women by other armed organisations.
Of these, one was a sexual harassment case committed by a people’s defence force (PDF) member in Magway Region and one was a gang-rape and murder of three women by resistance forces in Sagaing Region while they were being interrogated on suspicion of being military informants.
The report also detailed 23 cases of sexual violence, and 23 cases of domestic violence and adultery committed by civilians. Amongst these were four cases in which minors were raped, including one where the victim was a three-year-old girl.
Of the cases detailed in the report Ma Thwe Zin Toe said: “These cases have not been handled adequately, there are situations in which women who have been assaulted are placated by verbal apologies with no effective punishments being taken against the perpetrator.”
A human rights activist who did not wish to be identified said: “The revolution will be impacted if we don't carefully handle this situation. It is essential to completely oppose and punish revolutionary groups who commit sexual assault on women.”
The report was released to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on 19 June.
