The Women’s League of Burma
Presentation
By Thin Thin Aung
Gender Justice Dialogue
Mexico, April 2010
Facts about Burma
Series of military
regimes ruling since
1962
 One of the world’s
Least Developed
Countries.

Cont.
 Size
of army – nearly half a million
 total of over 500 battalions in Burma
 More than 40% of GDP used on army
 Less than 1% on health and education

More troops mean
More human rights violations
Systematic human rights abuses
Committed by the regime’s troops
•documented by international human rights
organisations and the UN
Including:
•forced labour, forced portering
•forced relocation
•confiscation of lands and crops
•arbitrary arrest and detention
•extrajudicial killing
•torture
•Rape as a strategy of war
To Escape war crimes and
crimes against humanity
several million people particularly from
ethnic nationalities area have fled their
homes, to become
 Internally Displaced Persons
 Refugees
 Migrant Workers
Crimes against humanity
Result : Fleeing to neighboring countries
estimated around 470,000
Internally Displaced Persons in
Burma
over 130,000 refugees in
camps
around 2 million migrant workers
from Burma in Thailand alone
Women refugees & exiles
Despite the limited resources,
limitations living as refugees & in
stateless situations with lack of legal
status in neighbouring countries……
Refugee/exiled women have
formed women's groups along
Burma's borders
1.
2.
To address the needs of their
communities
To advocate for political change in
Burma
Women’s organizations
 25
organizations to date around
Burma’s borders
 most with a strong focus on women's
human rights, gender equality &
women's participation in decision–
making processes
9 December 1999
First umbrella organization for
women‘s groups from Burma was
founded.
The Women’s League of Burma
(WLB)
Ongoing tasks of women’s
groups
 Educating
ourselves – skills trainings,
languages, confidence building – in
order to address community needs
 Advocating for peace, to put an end to
war crimes
 Working towards genuine political
reform and national reconciliation
WLB Programs
Peace- Building Women Against
Political
and
Violence
Empowerment
Reconciliation
Program
Program
Program
Strategy
Capacity Development
Advocacy
Since 2002
System of Impunity

Women’s organizations have
documented hundreds of cases
of rape and other forms of
sexual violence committed by
the regime’s troops

Women’s organizations
from Shan, Karen, Chin
and Mon States have
given evidence of military
rape
 Such
abuses are very
shameful in Burma
and it has taken a long
time for women and
girls to gather the
courage to speak out
about what has
happened to them.
Nationwide military rape in
Burma
 All
the ethnic states
 Central
Burma
areas of
Sexual violence against
women
an integral part of the military
regime’s strategy:
to control the people
 to intimidate and humiliate the civilian
population

Women live in constant fear of
rape and other abuses
 Regime
has denied the reports of rape.
 Regime claims that they have brought
peace and stability to Burma
WLB’s advocacy work
Issues
 Refugees
& Internally Displaced People
 Migrant Workers
 Trafficking
 Violence against Women
 Political Prisoners
 Women Human Rights Defenders
 Women’s political participation
 At
the grassroots level
 At the international level
e.g. – UNGA, UNSCR 1325 lobby Week,
CSW etc…
CEDAW Shadow Report
 WLB
has produced a CEDAW shadow
report
 WLB has attended the 42nd CEDAW
Session in Geneva, and used the report
to lobby the CEDAW Committee
Recent Advocacy

International Tribunal on Crimes against
Women of Burma jointly organized with the
Nobel Women’s Initiatives
Conclusion
 Despite
growing international
awareness of the problem of Burma,
 the
regime’s troops are still committing
state-sponsored human rights violations
systematically and with impunity.
Because….
various countries in the world and
particularly in Asia are overlooking
Burma’s crimes against humanity in
favor of their own political and
economic agendas
WLB’s calls
The international community must act now to
prevent further abuses
We urge the UN and international
governments

To continue supporting our movement and
our advocacy efforts for peace and
democracy in Burma
Cont.
To call for International Arms Embargo on
Burma
 To reject the regime-organized elections
 To form Commission of Inquiry to
investigate CAH and War Crimes in Burma.
 To refer Burma to the ICC

Thank You
www.womenofburma.org