16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: Day 13

Day 13: Women and Gender-Based Violence on the Thailand Burma Border – Palaung Women’s Organisation

The Palaung people are an ethnic group from North Eastern Burma who face severe hardship. With limited access to information about their rights, educational resources and few livelihood prospects in their communities, women from this region are vulnerable to gender-based violence and human-trafficking.

Domestic violence has been identified as a growing problem in Palaung communities, a problem exacerbated by poverty and protracted civil unrest in Burma. Within these communities there is a general lack of knowledge and understanding on human rights and gender based violence, and little recourse to justice. Women’s rights have been secondary to those of men, with most women believing the violence perpetrated by their husbands is socially acceptable.

In partnership with IWDA, the Palaung Women’s Organisation (PWO) is working to combat both domestic violence and human trafficking.

The Capacity Building and Documenting our Rights project aims to raise awareness of and strengthen responses to sexual and Gender Based Violence in Palaung communities through:

• ~ A one month intensive training program focussing on gender awareness, trafficking and other issues of gender-based violence (GBV), women’s rights, mechanisms and instruments to protect women’s rights, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), State legislation and UNSC Resolutions 1325 and 1820.
• ~ The collation and launch of two reports in response to the Burmese military 2009 CEDAW report which indicated that domestic violence is not a significant issue in Burma.  The PWO have conducted over 600 surveys documenting the prevalence of and community perceptions to domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence in Palaung communities, as well as collecting over 50 cases studies of women being trafficked from Burma into China.

The Palaung Women’s Organisation (PWO) has also been operating a Crisis and Resource Centre with support from IWDA since 2008, to provide emergency assistance and resources to vulnerable women and survivors of violence. Through the centre, the PWO is able to:

• ~Provide a safe and secure environment to support and assist women who have been, or are at risk of being, trafficked or facing violence.
• ~ Provide emergency accommodation, medical support and counselling for women.
• ~ Raise awareness about trafficking and violence against women issues by delivering roundtable discussions and workshops and providing access to information through a library service.

While the short term goal is to provide direct assistance to women in need, the long-term goal of this project is to contribute to the prevention and mitigation of trafficking and violence against women through education and outreach.

Both of these programs are part of IWDA’s Safety and Security Program, which focuses on women’s rights to a safe and secure life, free for violence and conflict.

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 16 Days of Activism is a global campaign encouraging organisations and individuals across the world to take a stand against gender-based violence. The campaign starts on 25th November: The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on 10th December: World Human Rights Day.

16 Days of Activism was started by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership 18 years ago. The campaign’s beginning and end dates highlight that violence against women is a human rights violation.

Thousands of diverse groups and individuals now take part in 16 Days, together calling for an end to all types of violence against women. Each year people organise events in their communities, including meetings, conferences, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances.

This year at IWDA, we have decided to use the 16 Days to highlight the work our partners in Asia and the Pacific are doing to improve the situation for women and girls in their communities, as well as the work IWDA is undertaking in Australia. Each day between 25th November and 10th December, we will post a short article about 16 Days on our website, Facebook page, and Twitter page.

Tags: 16 Days of Activism, Safety and Security, Thai Burma Border

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 under 16_Days, Recent.
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