‘The sense of safety and security for Myanmar women is declining by the day’ – An advocate for abuse survivors speaks out

As International Women’s Day approached in 2025, Moe Thae Say, deputy chair of the civil society group Shield, spoke with Myanmar Now about her organisation’s focus on addressing sexual and gender-based violence, as well as empowering survivors through emergency response, legal support, and rehabilitation.Women and children are among the disadvantaged people—especially the displaced—who have borne the brunt of the bloody civil war that has gripped Myanmar since the military coup of 2021, killing more than 5,000 people and displacing more than 3.5 million.Moreover, due to their vulnerability to targeted gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, women face a double threat amid the conditions of civil war.According to the Burmese Women Union (BWU), airstrikes by the Myanmar military killed 66 women in February of this year alone.To escape persecution and repression after the coup, tens of thousands of. . .

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