New Delhi –The Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday, that women in the Southeast Asian nation had extraordinary status granted to them by the traditional law that allows women to be on an equal footing in all fields with men folk.
Wunnah Maung Lwin, who led the seven men and three women delegation to the 42nd session of the Convention on Elimination of all kinds of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) committee in Geneva, said Burma's military government had done enough to protect the rights of women, during his briefing on Monday.
Cherry Zahau, a woman activist from a Burmese women's group in exile, who was also attending the committee on Monday said, "Wunnah's statement is astonishing and unbelievable as there seems to be no discrimination against women in Burma at all."
Zahau, who along with eight other colleagues submitted a 'Shadow Report' on the Burmese military government's report to CEDAW last week said, "The situation that Wunnah described is totally overwhelming and it seems out of the world because it is totally different from what we know."
Burma, which has attracted severe international criticism for its appalling human rights records, in its report claims that more than 70% women in the rural areas in Burma are assured of proper health care, while most adult women are guaranteed a chance to continue with higher education.
Wunnah also denied accusations that the Burmese army had randomly raped women, particularly in areas where ethnic minorities live. A report by several ethnic women's organizations including the Thailand-based Shan Women Action Network (SWAN) has highlighted this fact.
But Zahau, Coordinator of the Women's League of Chinland, an umbrella women's group representing ethnic Chin women of Burma said, "There is no security for women in Burma and with the military rulers continuing to exploit them, the rights of women are not protected."
She said in the male-dominated culture of Burma, which has taken a turn for the worse due to the military rule, the rights of women are exploited in almost every field including education, health, and employment.
"For most women, the highest education in Burma is up to the tenth standard," Zahau said.
Zahau and her colleagues, last week submitted a joint report by the women of Burma, which included the WLC and the Women's League of Burma that represent 12 ethnic women's groups. The shadow report, as the Burmese women's groups call it, highlights that women in Burma continue to suffer severely and are hardest hit by military rule.
The report, which is a counter to the Burmese junta's report to the CEDAW, said women both in rural and urban society, equally face discrimination ranging from the household to their workplace and even in high schools by the teachers.
The report called on the international community to help Burma in the democratization process, as the change in the government and the installation of democracy would be the only way to safe-guard the rights of women.
However, denying the report of the Burmese women, Wunnah and his delegates said, women in Burma are safe and are free as men. And the problems associated with women are also handled effectively by the civilian group Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation (MWAF), which critics had widely depicted as another puppet organization of the junta, run by wives of the military generals.
"It is funny that seven men are representing the women of Burma. This in itself shows that women are being suppressed," Zahau said.
