Nang Htoi Rawng. Women's social movement, sexual violence, and conflict in Kachin State, Myanmar. Master's degree(Social Sciences). Chiang Mai University. Library. : Chiang Mai University, 2017.
Women's social movement, sexual violence, and conflict in Kachin State, Myanmar
Abstract:
This paper explores the relationship between gender, sexuality and nationhood through analysis of the women's social movement in northern Myanmar, particularly the activities of women's organizations created to stop widespread and systematic rape of Kachin women by Myanmar's military forces. The interpretation of women's roles and place in society became a vital facet of the ethno-nationalist struggle in Kachin State. Ethnic women's rights to security and authority to decide their own bodies had important implications for population and national boundaries and thus women's bodies became prime targets for non-Kachin men wishing to humiliate or destroy the Kachin community. Many feminist scholars define sexual violence during armed conflict as a weapon of war, and Myanmar's military forces employed the rape of Kachin women as a means to humiliate armed rebel groups who were unable to protect their women in order to destroy the social fabric of the Kachin community. This strategic use of sexual violence toward women was used not only in Kachin regions, but it was a component of military operations to suppress ethnic rebellions in the Myanmar nation since 1948. Civil war between ethnic armed groups and past and present central government regimes in Myanmar is the longest running conflict of its kind in the world and began shortly after Myanmar gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Despite the beginnings of a democratic transition which occurred in 2010, ethnic border areas remained plagued by ongoing armed conflict. Since 2011, the Myanmar government - led by former president Thein Sein - initiated ceasefire negotiations with ethnic armed organizations resulting in the signing of a partial nationwide ceasefire agreement but fighting continued in Kachin regions. Political strife and warfare continued to threaten the lives of people in Kachin State. And under present conditions, Myanmar's hierarchical power structure as well as practices of inequality and a culture of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence continues to affect communities in Kachin regions. The intensification of wartime sexual violations which accompanied the resumption of war between the KIA and the Myanmar military forces precluded the reaching of political agendas, and Kachin women's organizations responded by seeking ways to deal with gender issues within their own communities. Kachin women's organizations developed programs to collect comprehensive data in order to identify the needs of victims requiring assistance. Such documentation proved useful for compiling information used in prosecution of crimes within the existing legal system, and these records were also used to set up social services mechanisms. Women's organizations built strong networks among the local community and worked together with other ethnic groups to publicize to the international community the problem of sexual violence against Kachin women committed by the Myanmar military, and networks formed by women's groups were key to the pursuit of justice through exerting international pressure on the Myanmar government. Experiences of gender violence against Kachin women in conflict areas motivated women to become activists against sexual violence and to act as agents for change in society. Some Kachin women volunteers served in social movements just as Kachin men became involved in the Kachin nationalist movement to fight for self-autonomy in Myanmar and for equal rights. Women formed local civil-based organizations to expand the space for women in politics and women rights in society. Women directly participated in public demonstrations beyond the boundaries of traditional and cultural constraints. Through their grassroots work, Kachin women attempted to contest the limited role and representation of women in the national peace initiative process and to enhance gender consciousness among women's group.