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Unsung heroes in an unfinished stru



Unsung heroes in an unfinished struggle

Bangkok Post
Jun 19, 1998

Today, June 19, is Women of Burma Day to mark the birthday of leading
political activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

May Pyone Aung
Chiang Mai

The issue of women leadership in Burma is not a novelty. Many observers
regard Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League
for Democracy, as a mythical figure under the shadow of her late father and
national hero, Gen Aung San. But her leadership would not be accepted by
the majority of the people had there not been a tradition of women's
political activity in our society.

This is the reason that generals never treat her lightly nor ignore the
sentiments of women constituents. The generals are well aware of her powers
and, in fact, they established women's organisations just to counter her
leadership.

The generals' vehicle for women's acquiescence is the Myanmar aternal and
Child Welfare Association (MMCWA) under the uidance of Gen Khin Nyunt. In
fact, the MMCWA is just a first ives' club.

Dr Khin Win Shwe, the wife of Gen Khin Nyunt, is the vice-chairman, hile
the wives of other generals fill the remaining executive seats on he
national steering body. The hierarchy of local branches goes hand n hand
with the military command. Thus, the wives of local ommanders are the
chairmen at the grassroots level.

In their designations, the wives unfortunately do not go by their names.
nstead, they are addressed as the wives of this general or that general. he
Ministry for Social Welfare is seconded to support the logistics eeded for
various women's groups, with the minister a combative rigadier who presides
over the All Women Affair Committee, the quivalent to the ministry for
women's affairs found in some socialist ountries.

The All Women Affairs Committee is a misnomer. It is definitely not or all
women. Neither is it constituted with women in decision-making ositions. It
is a men-dominated national body where the standard ropaganda is given to
all grassroots chapters.

Through forced mobilisation, the generals try to control the minds of
urmese women. The basic ideology is that there is a "traditional" role or us.

In the twisted world of the generals, such "traditions" mean that urmese
women are equal socially; they do not need to care about quality, only the
improvement of their womanly skills. Politics is an ndesirable arena for
women to take part. Women are highly suited to eadership because,
"traditionally" speaking, their skills are unmatched, heir emotions are
inappropriate and their intrinsic love for peace is ndecisive.

The constitution drafted by the military-dominated National onvention also
states that presidential candidates must have served in he armed forces
with full combat experience - conditions that ffectively bar any Burmese
woman as the Burmese army does not recruit female cadets.

The women in the so-called All Women Affairs Committee might have the
sensibility to truly care about the status of Burmese women, but the heavy
guidance of the generals is so pervasive that any meaningful contribution
by women organisations would be marginal at best.

In the general's minds, they know what is best for Burma. That includes
women's needs and aspirations. Guided democracy, a guided market and now
guided feminism. If guided feminism means a gradual improvement of women's
status, such an objective might be regarded as better than nothing. But
these women's organisations are preoccupied with beauty contests, flower
shows and fashion galas.

On the external front, the MMCWA and other women's organisations are often
presented as NGOs so they can receive foreign aid. The women's
organisations become the perfect front for the funnelling of United Nations
development aid and humanitarian assistance to the generals.

These women are used to cover the sins committed by their husbands. For
instance, the MMCWA held a national conference to play down the worsening
violence against women. The trend reached alarming levels on the frontline
where the army was putting down ethnic resistance groups and uprooting
ethnic communities.

Their own statistics prove that violence against women is rising. During
the 10-year reign of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc),
thanks to their take-no-prisoners approach, the crime rate fell in all
categories except rape. The incidence of rape remains unchanged.

The statistics for 1988 to 1996 show the incidence of major crimes such as
murder and robbery dropping by an annual average of 7 percent and 21
percent respectively. But there was no reduction at all in the level of
rapes. Given the nature of under-reporting and unaccounted incidences in
remote areas, violence against women is alarmingly high and is rising.

On another front, the trafficking of women has been labelled as a
fabrication by "destructionists". Today, in Thailand alone there are at
least 50,000 Burmese women working in the sex industry. The majority are
very vulnerable to mistreatment and manipulation under slave-like
conditions. The conditions for migrant women employed in other categories
such as domestic servants and sweatshops are equally bad. But so too are
the conditions at home.

Prostitution is the only profitable spillover from the Visit Burma Year.
The inflow of foreign companies did not generate good jobs for our sisters.
Instead, they were forced to work as secretaries or office maids, facing
sexual discrimination and sexual harassment in the absence of any legal
recourse for these abuses.

Many of our sisters have sacrificed their lives in popular uprisings. In
fact, the rape of female activists in prisons after their arrest during the
smaller demonstrations in early 1988, disclosed in the open letters of Gen
Aung Gyi, received the attention of the whole population and sparked wider
protests in the famous Aug 8, 1988 (8/8/88) uprisings.

In fact, the nationwide women's movement was revived in 1988. Those who
witnessed the 1988 uprisings vividly remember the scenes of women carrying
pots and pans along with placards when a large group of housewives took to
the streets to demonstrate against the government's assertion that they had
the support of the "silent majority". One result of resurgent activism of
women in politics was the filing of at least one woman candidate in every
constituency in the last general election and the victory of at least 15
candidates.

Given the potential danger of activism by half the population, the generals
took a very strong stand against women involved in the opposition movement.
Many were imprisoned under martial law and summary persecution. There is an
estimated 100 female political prisoners in Burma. Burma would probably top
the world with the highest number of women prisoners of conscience.

Female political prisoners are subject to many forms of ill treatment. They
are viewed as being as dangerous as their male counterparts and are given
heavy prison terms. Dr Thida, a physician, was given a 15-year sentence
because her writings are powerful enough to sway the divisions of soldiers.
Daw Sann Sann, a labour leader and NLD MP in her late 60s, was recently
given a 25-year sentence for giving an interview to the British
Broadcasting Corporation. She had already served an earlier prison term for
her role in the forming of a parallel government. A few months ago, a woman
MP from the NLD, Nan Khin Htwe Myint, a popular grassroots leader from
Karen State, was arrested and given a two-year sentence by a mock jury.

There is an urgent need to shed light on the darkest corners of Burma and
the unknown struggle of countless women in the democratic movement. Here,
the words of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi give strong guidance for the task ahead:
"It is only by creating conditions under which women are given an equal
opportunity with men to develop their talents that our world will be able
to reap the full benefits of a healthy community."

* May Pyone Aung is a member of the Burmese Women Union based on the
Thai-Burmese border. * Interview Outlook