Hundreds of people staged separate peaceful protests in Rezua and Matupi, Chin State, on Monday and Tuesday, calling for an immediate end to sexual violence against ethnic women.

About 400 protesters in Rezua and over 200 in Matupi participated in the events, prompted by the attempted rape of a 40-year-old woman by a Burma Army soldier early this month.

Some of the placards read: “Stop raping; We are humans, not animals. We are humans, not property.”

Pi Ngun Chin Par, a leader of Rezua women’s organization, said that there had to be justice and that soldiers had to be properly controlled through strict discipline in order to ensure security for women.

Event organizing leaders from Rezua and Matupi women’s organizations said that they had applied for official permission to hold a demonstration in advance but the authorities didn’t give it.

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“We were not given permission but we went ahead with our plans although we faced some threats from local authorities. We did this only to express our voices in ensuring safety and security for women,” added Par.

On Wednesday last week, some women leaders were summoned to the Rezua Sub-township Administration Office and threatened that the authorities would not be responsible for any problems relating to the events.

As of today, no action has been taken against Private Myo Thura Kyaw, from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion No. 269, for the attempted rape of the local woman.

 

This article was originally published in Chinland Guardian on 23 June 2014.