Feminist Peace Network

The unrest in Burma has been less of a media darling lately, but the violence nonetheless continues and as is always the case when there is military unrest, violence against women is an integral part of the violence that is taking place. Because of the limited news coverage coming out of Burma, much of what we know about what is happening to women there is coming from blogs such as this report:

According to the news on January 28 posted at Kwekalu, a Karen online news website, confirmed, “Battalions’ commanders in Eastern part of Burma order soldiers to arrest and rape any girls they saw in that area�. The Karen Information Centre (KIC News) also confirmed this news and District Karen Women Group at the area warmed girls and women to avoid and run away if they knew that attack would happen. Actually, for many of us who watched John Rambo movie, we might visualize what was happening in the movie and was the location that described in the movie. Burmese military have been using torture, rape and violence as a weapon against Karen and other ethnic women at the rural area where the war took place and it was well documented by several human rights institutions.

And from Birma (sic) News we have this item:

A 16 year old teenage girl from Mong Liang village in Mong Pieng township (Eastern Shan State) was dragged into a farm and raped by a group of soldiers from Mong Pieng based Light Infantry Batallion 360, according to a local source.

By: Kwarn Lake

On 12th of this month, about 30 soldiers from Company 2, LIB 360 led by Second Lieutenant Maung Myint came to Loi Kao Kot (Nine Bend Mountain), between Tong Tar and Mong Pieng, to destroy poppy fields. “It is just another of their (the junta) public relation stunts.They do that just to take pictures and show their leaders or to the world,” the source said.

On the way back from Loi Kao Kot to Mong Liang village, they met Nang Kham Ai (not her real name) coming back to her house from herding the family’s horses. She was threatened with gun and dragged into the farm, half a mile from the village and was raped by Second Lieutenant Maung Myint and 3 of his followers from 4:30 pm till late evening.

“The troop is heartless and very cruel. If the villagers who came back from their farms did not hear the girl’s scream they might still rape until midnight. They have no sympathy at all, they should think of her as their sister or daughter,” said one of the villagers who requests anonymity.

The soldiers ran away when the villagers came and they then brought her back to her parents. The parents demanded the village headman to ask for punishment of the soldiers by the army. But, the headman dared not ask because he was afraid of the soldiers. The villagers have no one to depend upon, said a villager.

Nang Kham Ai is the daughter of Loong Yee and Pa Vo who own many farms, cows, buffaloes and belongs to a well known middle class family.

The Feminist Peace Network will continue to do what we can to visibilize the violence against women that is taking place in Burma.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Atrocities, Militarism, Misogyny, Gender-Based Violence