Laws and decrees related to women (commentary)
Individual Documents
Description:
"In Myanmar, rumours abound about the assault and coercion of Buddhist women. What makes this trope of everyday storytelling—often factually inaccurate—so resistant to ?debunking”?
Based on more than four years of in-depth qualitative research, we argue that rumours are durable because they resonate with, and allocate blame for, the suffering and stagnation of the 1990s and 2000s.
We see these dynamics at play in support for the four ?Protection of Race and Religion” laws. Drafted with assistance of Buddhist organisation Ma Ba Tha, they were passed in the final months of the U Thein Sein government and remain a thorn in the side of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy government..."
Gerard McCarthy & Jacqueline Menager
Source/publisher:
"New Mandala"
Date of publication:
2017-07-12
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Religion in Burma - general, Inter-Communal violence and discrimination - Myanmar - General articles and analysis, Laws and decrees related to women (commentary), Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to population (commentary)
Language:
English
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Description:
"Justice Base, with support from UN Women, led a participatory action research
project over eight months in 2014 to examine women?s access to justice in
the plural legal system of Myanmar. Situated in the constellation of various
justice studies being conducted in the country, this report places fundamental
importance on documenting women?s experiences with and perceptions of the
formal and informal legal systems.
Researchers sought to identify the formal and informal processes,
decision-makers, and institutions that play a role in resolving disputes
involving women in Myanmar. In communities with little access to government
legal institutions or where the formal system is not used or not functioning,
the project emphasised recording customary legal processes and how they
impacted women?s justice claims. The intent was not to determine which system
was ?better” or more favourable to women, but rather to illuminate the justice
obstacles and enablers in each.
This qualitative study was conducted in four geographic target areas that included
urban and semi-rural areas of Chin State, Mon State, Kachin State and the city
of Yangon. Local research teams used focus group discussions, key informant
interviews and participatory mapping activities to collect information from over
400 community members, legal practitioners, local administrators and other key
stakeholders. Consultations and data validation sessions were iteratively held
with partner organisations to further ensure that women and peer groups could
articulate their positions and preferred strategies for improving their access to
justice.
The project did not focus on specified thematic issues (for example, land rights or
domestic violence), but rather provided a broad space for women and men from
target communities to self-identify what they saw as women?s most pressing
legal concerns. Research participants identified domestic violence, sexual assault
and traditional inheritance practices as the most prevalent injustices women
faced. Women also described these issues as the least likely to be submitted for
adjudication by formal or informal legal mechanisms. The avoidance of justice
systems in response to these events was explained in part by several women and
men respondents who defined family matters ? those between a husband and
wife or parents and children ? as situated outside the jurisdiction of law..."
Source/publisher:
Justice Base, UN Women
Date of publication:
2016-04-22
Date of entry/update:
2016-07-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Legal Pluralism - Burma/Myanmar-specific, Reports about women of Burma by national, regional and international NGOs, Laws and decrees related to women (commentary)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.48 MB
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Description:
GENEVA (27 May 2015) ? "A group of United Nations human rights experts today expressed alarm at the enactment of the Population Control Healthcare Bill in Myanmar, the first of four in a package of bills that seek to ?protect race and religion?. The bills are highly discriminatory against ethnic and religious minorities as well as against women.
?These bills risk deepening discrimination against minorities and setting back women?s rights in Myanmar,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee. ?At a time when thousands of Rohingya are already fleeing the country by boat, this sends precisely the wrong signal to these communities.”
On Saturday, State media reported that the President of Myanmar had signed the Population Control Healthcare Bill. While the stated objectives of the Bill are to improve living standards, alleviate poverty, ensure quality healthcare and develop maternal and child health, its provisions are extremely vague and lack any protection against discrimination, the independent experts noted. Under the newly adopted law, certain areas can be designated for special health care measures, including birth spacing.
?Any coercive requirement for birth spacing with the aim to ?organise? family planning would constitute a disproportionate interference in the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and could amount to a violation of women?s human rights,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Pûras, noting that the Bill allows township groups to ?organise? married couples to practice 36-month birth spacing between pregnancies. ?Women should be able to choose freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations
Date of publication:
2015-05-27
Date of entry/update:
2015-05-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to Family/Matrimonial/Personal Law (commentary), Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to population (commentary), Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to nationality, citizenship and immigration (commentary), Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to religion (commentary), Laws and decrees related to women (commentary)
Language:
English
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Description:
OVERVIEW;
FOUNDATIONS OF THE LAW IN BURMA;
LAWS RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO WOMEN;
THE PRACTICE OF THE LAW;
WOMEN & FAMILY LAW;
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS.
Brenda Belak
Source/publisher:
Images Asia
Date of publication:
2002-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
466.63 KB
Local URL:
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