Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Reaches Alarming Levels in Myanmar's Shan State: Report

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is occurring at an alarming scale across Shan State, accompanied by systemic barriers that prevent survivors from accessing justice, according to a report released on July 30 by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN). The report, titled “Justice Denied in the Face of Violence: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice,” documented 172 SGBV cases collected across Shan State between 2022 and 2025. It highlighted how ongoing armed conflict, widespread displacement, and weakened legal systems leave survivors without protection or accountability. “The findings show that violence against women and girls in Shan State remains a human rights crisis, with serious and widespread abuses continuing to take place,” said Sai, who heads SWAN’s capacity-building program. Of the 172 documented cases from the three years, 89 (51.7 percent) involved domestic or intimate partner violence. Most perpetrators were husbands or boyfriends, with substance abuse further compounding the risk of violence, the report noted. SWAN also documented 70 cases of rape and attempted rape. The victims included 30 children under the age of 18, the youngest being just three years old. Armed personnel from both the military junta and Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs) accounted for 15 percent of the perpetrators. The report also recorded abuses targeting individuals with physical or mental disabilities, seven homicides, and seven instances where SGBV-related trauma led to suicide or attempted suicide. Systemic barriers to justice remain pervasive, with only about half of the documented cases resulting in any formal resolution or action. More than 70 percent of survivors initially reported abuses to village or community elders. However, local authorities frequently dismissed domestic violence as a “private family matter.” In many instances, cases were settled by forcing victims to marry their abusers or requiring perpetrators to pay financial compensation instead of facing criminal prosecution. “Most SGBV survivors not only suffer psychological trauma from their ordeal, but also face major barriers to obtaining justice, safety, and support,” Sai added. In cases involving armed groups, survivors reported facing threats, case concealment, and widespread impunity for perpetrators. SWAN called on local administrative bodies, EROs, and judicial actors to adopt survivor-centered approaches, enforce strict accountability for perpetrators, and support international mechanisms for legal redress.