The Myanmar junta has killed 1,132 women and arrested and imprisoned 5,649 women, since the February 2021 coup until August 2024,, according to The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) .
The figures were released as part of an AAPP report entitled ‘Women Behind Bars in the Spring Revolution’, which was released on 1 September.
The report states that most of the women killed by the junta died as a result of artillery shelling, airstrikes, and deliberate shootings. Others were also killed during detention or raped and killed. The death toll included eight women who died in prisons, two who died in police stations, and a further four who died in junta interrogation centres.
Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a PPNM spokesperson, said that women arrested since the coup face high risks of sexual assault and death.
Talking of life in prison for women he said: “[In prison] there are even cases where CCTV cameras are installed in women’s bathrooms. Additionally, we have received reports of female inmates’ cells being occasionally raided and searched under the guise of security. There are also instances where female inmates are subjected to verbal abuse with inappropriate and offensive language. Many female inmates, including political prisoners, are enduring these abuses.”
He also said that junta prison officers target female political prisoners in various ways, such as physically assaulting and abusing them. He said they are more often targeted for such treatment than normal female prisoners.
Of the 5,649 women recorded as arrested by AAPP, over 3,000 were sent to prison in the regions of Yangon, Mandalay and Sagaing. 1,4440 were imprisoned in Yangon, 929 in Mandalay Region and a further 705 in Sagaing Region.
AAPP has called on the international community to take effective action against the junta's extrajudicial arrests, killings, torture, and sexual violence against women.
It also warns that the actual numbers of women killed and imprisoned are likely to be far higher than the numbers AAPP has verified.
AAPP (Burma), otherwise known as AAPP, is a human rights organisation based in Mae Sot, Thailand and Yangon. AAPP advocates for the release of all remaining political prisoners in Myanmar and for the improvement of their quality of life during and after incarceration.
