Myanmar Spring Chronicle – Scenes from March 8
(MoeMaKa), March 9, 2026
International Women’s Day and Sexual Violence Against Women
March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day on which awareness-raising and advocacy events related to women’s rights are held. In Myanmar as well, activities promoting awareness of women’s rights are carried out annually on International Women’s Day.
Regarding women’s rights, although Myanmar’s social system, culture, laws, and religions may not exhibit overt or extreme forms of oppression and discrimination, a certain degree of discrimination still exists. Based on religion or traditional customs and practices, there are still cases where women do not enjoy equal rights with men.
In some pagodas, women are prohibited from entering certain areas on religious grounds. Issues such as inheritance rights, sexual violence, and discrimination also persist, whether based on ethnicity or regional traditions and customs.
Moreover, incidents in which women are bullied, oppressed, or denied equal rights due to disparities in power, position, or wealth exist in Myanmar society just as they do in other countries. Acts of sexual violence and abuses of women’s dignity committed through the misuse of authority have existed, to varying degrees, across different eras and systems. In times like the present, when the rule of law is severely weakened, such incidents have become more frequent in communities and workplaces. The deterioration or dysfunction of complaint mechanisms, along with the public’s loss of trust in governing authorities, has further exacerbated violations of women’s rights.
Among acts of sexual violence against women, rape is considered the most severe. Rape cases can be categorized according to context: those occurring between civilians; those committed by armed actors against civilians by leveraging weapons and power; and those committed against women within armed groups themselves.
Amid ongoing armed conflicts—essentially, during wartime—rape has also been used as a weapon. Such acts have occurred not only in current conflicts but also during previous periods of civil war.
During military operations in the 1990s under the SLORC/SPDC military regime, particularly in Karen and Shan States, women’s rights organizations published reports documenting how government troops used rape as a weapon during offensives against ethnic armed groups. As they attacked armed groups, the military simultaneously committed rape against civilian women in local villages. These actions were described using the term “License to Rape.”
Since 2021, as civil war has intensified, conflict-related sexual violence has also increased. During clearance operations in villages suspected of harboring or supporting People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), the military has frequently been reported in the news as committing rape against women, and in some cases raping and then killing them. Additionally, there have been incidents involving certain members of revolutionary armed groups who have used their weapons and authority to rape civilians, and in some cases to rape, kill, and dispose of the bodies.
In recent years, in a village in Chaung-U Township, members of a PDF unit allegedly arrested several underage girls who were collecting firewood, accused them of being informants, raped them, and disposed of their bodies. It remains unclear what actions, if any, were taken in response to that incident.
A recent report issued by a Myanmar women’s rights organization stated that over 900 cases of sexual violence occurred within a five-year period. The report indicated that these abuses included acts committed by members of the military junta as well as by members of revolutionary armed groups.
Although revolutionary armed groups generally do not commit rape when entering villages in the same manner as the coup military’s forces, there have been some instances in which women detained for various reasons were subjected to rape through the abuse of authority.
A recent rape case involving a female member of Battalion 20 in Yinmabin District clearly reflects rape committed through the abuse of power, authority, and weapons. Because the survivor was a member of a revolutionary force, she was able to speak out about the incident—something that ordinary civilians often do not dare to do.
The coincidence of International Women’s Day and the incident in Yinmabin Township, along with the resulting calls from civil society and women’s rights organizations, is an unfortunate one.
Beyond this particular case, ensuring justice for past incidents and taking swift, effective action to prevent recurrence are responsibilities that fall upon the National Unity Government.
Write to Maung May