The Women Of Myanmar Stand Up To Systemic Inequality

On February 1st 2021, Myanmar’s military deposed the newly elected government and seized power in a coup d’etat. This came after the National Lead for Democracy party won a landslide victory in the November 2020 elections. The country now faces a dangerous military autocracy, as well as one of South East Asia’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks and a healthcare system under intense pressure. 

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Myanmar to denounce the military junta. One of the first groups to protest were women’s labour unions and garment workers, along with young women activists. It’s not the first time women have played a leading role in Myanmar’s struggle for freedom. The ‘8888’ protests, a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, were driven by women and Burmese student groups. 

As the battle for democracy in Myanmar rages on, women stand on the front lines like the generations before them. 

Aung San Suu Kyi and the persistence of patriarchal power

Aung San Suu Kyi was the face of an era of democratic reforms in Myanmar. She was depicted as the ‘mother of the nation’, but the persistence of patriarchal power throughout the decade of democratisation thwarted real political inclusion for Burmese women. 

The military continued to hold a quarter of parliamentary seats and controlled key ministries including defence and home affairs. The representation of women in parliament grew from less than five percent in 2014, to just over 15 percent in November 2020. Important though this progress was, it demonstrates the extent to which equality was limited by the embedded patriarchy of the military. 

Suu Kyi’s response to the persecution of Myanmar’s Muslim Royingya minority has led to widespread international criticism – from activist hailed as a beacon for human rights to the accused in a genocide trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 

Derek Mitchell, former US Ambassador to Myanmar pointedly said, "We have to be mindful that we shouldn't endow people with some iconic image beyond which is human." Although she was compared to Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi was a woman placed at the centre of a highly oppressive patriarchy, a figurehead for a movement that could not create the systemic change it promised. 

i’m not interested

in a feminism that thinks

simply placing women at the top

of oppressive systems is progress 

not your convenient figurehead – rupi kaur

While formally excluded from power structures, women’s groups in Myanmar have mobilized to contribute to the peace process through informal channels, such as student protests, labour strikes and women journalists advocating progressive feminism. The work of women in these diverse organisations demonstrates how pivotal civil society and women’s movements are in protesting unjust power structures and creating sustainable transitions from war to peace. 

A huge setback for women’s rights

Military rule has tragically been the norm in Myanmar over the last half-century, so we have an idea of what the consequences of the coup will be for women. From 1962 to 2011, when Myanmar was controlled by a military junta, women were marginalised in society, excluded from positions of power, and did not receive the same educational and economic opportunities as men.

Under decades of military rule and a culture of militarisation and hypermasculinity, women were relegated to support roles and considered in need of male protection. The junta’s failure to invest in Myanmar’s social and economic infrastructure also placed a heavy burden on women. For instance, investing 20 to 30 percent of gross domestic product to the military, but only 1 to 3 percent to health and education directly harmed women and resulted in high maternal and infant mortality rates. 

The military coup does not just signal a threat to women’s rights; it is also an immediate and direct danger to the physical safety of women. The Myanmar army has been condemned for its systematic targeting of ethnic minority women and girls for sexual violence, and UN human rights experts have found the “the extent of gender inequality in Myanmar makes it especially prone to sexual and gender-based violence.” 

To address these threats, the international community must take concerted action. We should refer crimes to the International Criminal Court and UN Security Council, as well as holding tribunals to prosecute crimes against humanity. Breaking a cycle of impunity, and demonstrating to the junta that its actions have consequences, must be a priority. 

Women on the front lines 

Despite the risks, women have stood on the front lines of the ongoing demonstrations. By the hundreds of thousands, women have gathered for daily marches, and female medical volunteers have patrolled the streets, tending to the wounded and dying. 

The security forces have used tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and even live rounds against the protestors. In an act of defiant creativity to protect the protest zones, the women are wielding long-held superstitions about the garments covering the lower half of the body. Hanging women’s undergarments – htamein – across the street, knowing that the male security forces may be reluctant to touch them for fear that it could sap their virility. 

Women are on the front lines everyday, but the international community needs to ensure they do not simply become the subjugated face of the revolution. A militarised Myanmar is a threat to everyone, but it is a particular threat to women. As long as a military government is in power, women’s rights and safety will be ignored. Efforts must be made immediately to protect women and build a safe, equitable future in Myanmar. As activist May Sabe Phyu has warned: “If we don’t win this time, they will win forever.”

Written by Caitlin - Conscience Collective