Lets give a hand to those who are unable to speak out

Today I met with one of my friends who I have not been seeing for a while as she lives in Mizoran State of Inida. She comes to the United States to advocate the issue of human rights violation in Chin State by the Burmese military regime. We had a long conversation almost the whole evening and thus, I got to know from her that Chin women organization is preparing a report on the sexual violence against women by the military soldiers in Chin State, and the report will be publicized internationally soon, hopefully in March or April. Like other women in Burma, Chin women have not been able to escape from rapes and other kinds of sexual abuses by the military regime. However, there is not much attention given to the situation of women in Chin State, since the problem in eastern Burma is more obvious and worse than in any other places. I was glad to hear that Chin women are trying to make the issue known among the international communities. At the same time, I also felt sad that this kind of brutal human rights abuses are happening everywhere in Burma. Under the military regime, women; young or old, married or single are targeted to rapes and different forms of sexual abuses by the military. However, not many people in the world know what is happening in Burma. It is very important to let the world know about the brutalities of the Burmese military regime. Burmese people need help and support. Since we are living in a democratic society, I believe that we can do something to help these women who are not able to express their own voices. I believe that unless the humanitarian community or international community insists on minimum-security assurances for the vulnerable, rape and sexual violence against women will continue unabated in Burma. ///// Khin