Daw Ni Shwe Lyan, the first-ever female candidate to win a seat in the Chin State parliament is moving to make major changes to a law that discriminates against Chin women. The new MP explained “We need to amend that Act. But I cannot say exactly how the act can be amended as I am not a legal expert. This act is a big loss to the women. I will cooperate with the legal experts to amend it. I have a burning desire to amend it.”
The law in question is the Chin Special Division (Extension of Laws) Act. Under Section 15 (a) of the Chin Special Division Act (Amendment), the women have no inheritance rights.
Daw Ni Shwe Lyan from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) is a sitting upper house candidate for Htantalan Township.
Mai Len Nei Cer, Director of the Ninu (Women in Action Group) said: “There are no Chin female lawmakers in the two successive terms of Chin State parliamentary. I believe that the inclusion of a female candidate in the Chin State parliament will help support the amendment of the Chin Act.”
She added “The inclusion of a female candidate in Chin State parliament is good. I am happy with that. I wonder how far her voice will be effective, as she is the only female candidate among 26 male candidates? We cannot expect too much. We are demanding the amendment of Chin Act in parliament. We want women to get the equal rights with men for inheritance after the amendment to the Chin Act.
After getting independence, Myanmar enacted the Chin Special Division (Extension of Laws) Act for Chin on October 22, 1948. The Chin Special Division (Extension of Laws) (Amendment) Act was issued on October 16, 1957. Under Section 15 (a) of the Chin Special Division Act (Amendment), the women have no inheritance rights.
The Ninu is asking for the amendment to the Act which discriminates against women according to tradition. They have published a book titled “the Guests who are not eligible to be house owners”, which describes the deprivations of Chin women due to the Chin Act.
The book writes that in the Chin community, only sons can inherit the father’s ancestry or clan under the patriarchy system. Women are not allowed to participate in the decision-making for inheritance, marriage, divorce and other matters.
