21 March 2024

Today, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) releases “Voice Up,” A Gendered Overview of the Human Rights Situation in Southeastern Burma. The report is the first in a series that will follow, focusing on the situation of women and children in Southeastern Burma throughout the year. Before the attempted coup in Burma, HURFOM had published similar content in a bulletin-style format under the title ‘Voice Up.’

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 two cases of enforced disappearances. In Mon State, Karen State and the 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 1500 women have been unlawfully arrested and detained. Women in Burma 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 Burma 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. The junta has created systems which shield soldiers from accountability and embodies a deeply flawed entity which 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 Burma Army has violated.

Women in Burma 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 thesituation of human rights in Burma to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions, and a global arms embargo.

Media Contact
Mi Seik Non, Assistant Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Phone – +95 9 772 760 517,
Nai Aue Mon, HURFOM Program Director
Email: [email protected]
Signal: +66 86 167 9741

HURFOM wasfounded by exiled pro-democracy studentsfrom the 1988 uprisings, recent activists, Mon community leaders, and youth. Itsprimary objective is to restore democracy, human rights, and genuine peace in Burma. HURFOM i sa non-profit organization, and all its members are volunteers with a shared vision for peace in the country.

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