Tortured, humiliated and killed: the women who disappear into Myanmar’s prisons
The military junta has detained thousands of political prisoners since the 2021 coup, and a pattern of gender-based abuses is becoming clear
TL;DR
- Thousands of political prisoners, including over 6,400 women, have been detained by Myanmar's military junta since the 2021 coup.
- Female political prisoners report experiencing psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, including invasive strip-searches, beatings, and sexual humiliation.
- Sexual violence and gender-based crimes are identified as systematic tools of intimidation used by authorities against women.
- Reports indicate that male prison staff have physically abused female prisoners and secretly filmed them in showers for blackmail purposes.
- Some female political prisoners have allegedly died in detention due to torture, medical neglect, and the severity of their injuries.
- Despite government amnesties and sentence reductions for some high-profile figures, thousands of activists remain imprisoned, and human rights observers view these moves as attempts to manage the regime's reputation rather than genuine reform.