Irrawaddy-July 231
An alarming pattern of sexual and gender-based violence has emerged in Shan State, with over 170 cases recorded in three years, the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) reported Thursday. The network also highlighted justice systems’ widespread failure to protect survivors, adding that around 15 percent of cases were perpetrated by soldiers. SWAN documented 172 incidents of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) between 2022 and 2025. They included 70 rape cases: 22 involving children, 10 statutory rapes, nine attempted rapes, three gang rapes, and one marital rape. The cases occurred across Northern and Southern Shan, though mentioning specific townships was a sensitive topic, a spokesperson for SWAN told The Irrawaddy. Of the assaults recorded, 49.1 percent were perpetrated by a spouse or intimate partner, while regime or rebel ethnic soldiers were identified as assailants in 14.9 percent of cases. Soldiers on both sides were also implicated in domestic violence, SWAN team member Nang Morn Kaein told The Irrawaddy. SWAN highlighted how armed conflict and mass displacement have fueled the violence while further weakening already fragile justice systems. “Since the coup, SGBV cases have proliferated amid conflict and justice breakdown, leading to growing violence,” Nang Morn Kaein said. Only around half of the 172 cases have been prosecuted or resolved. “The remaining victims don’t want to file complaints since there is no proper follow-up or justice system.” Of the cases that were filed, 70.9 percent were reported to ward/village heads or administrators, 16.9 percent to ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), and 12.4 percent to the police. The rights group called on Shan-based EAOs to enforce policies prohibiting SGBV while ensuring that civilians, particularly women and girls, are protected against violence. It also urged local authorities to implement transparent, survivor-centered reporting and justice procedures, and called for international pressure on the military regime to end attacks on civilians, including sexual and gender-based violence. Read more at:
