No Where Else to Go: Sexual Trafficking and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Burma

BURMA DIGEST

Aug 31st, 2009

New report details process of pervasive sexual trafficking and abuse of women along Thai-Burma border

Woman and Child Rights Project

August 31, 2009

The ongoing abuse of women through sexual trafficking is a “pervasive and arguably growing problem”, which is systemically bound to the economic mismanagement of the Burmese government, says the Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP) in a report released this morning. In the 90 page report titled Nowhere Else To Go, the WCRP explores the systemic causes of sexual trafficking and the abusive journey the victims undergo.

Nowhere Else to Go, examines the tragic causes of sexual trafficking through a two-prong approach. Illuminating the root causes and push factors that have worked to drive women into positions of being sexually trafficked, the report cites “systemic and structural discrimination” and the, “harsh economic reality” of living under Burmese military rule, among the background causes.

Then, with analysis from interviews conducted with over 40 victims of trafficking between 2004 and 2009, the WCRP illustrates the journey of abuse women experience using three categories defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – “Act”, “Means” and “Purpose”. These categories detail the journey of victims, some as young as 10 years old, from their entrapment, abuse they experience through trafficking, to the final purpose for which they are trafficked.

Nowhere Else to Go comes at a crucial stage in women’s rights development. Within the next year the 2010 election will alter the political landscape of Burma, making these issues of pervasive abuse and ongoing sexual trafficking a major obstacle for a country hoping to appear as a legitimate democracy. “We have insufficient protection for women and children in Burma under the rule of law, so they suffer especially,” explains Nai Kasauh Mon, the director of Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM). Citing efforts by the current Junta to address the problem, he is troubled that still “no clear progress is made.”

Further Details:

Full PDF copies of Nowhere Else to Go can be downloaded at: http://www.rehmonnya.org

Hard copies of Nowhere Else to Go, as well as print-quality photos for news publication can be obtained by emailing wcrpcontact@yahoo.com.

Questions or requests for interviews in English, Mon and Burmese should be made by emailing wcrpcontact@yahoo.com; or calling Mi Jarai Non at +66 (0)833176 795.

About WCRP:

The Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP) of Southern Burma, was founded in 2000 in order to monitor and protect the rights of women and children and focus international attention on Burma in order to pressure Burma’s military regime that has widely involved in violations of women’s rights. Its goals, additionally, are to educate and empower women and children to know about and engage in protecting these rights.

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One Response to “No Where Else to Go: Sexual Trafficking and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Burma”

* #1 empower foundation Says:
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am

About to read the report but we really hope there is an acknowledgement that sex work is work and that many migrant women from Burma are professional sex workers who also participate in the struggle for democracy and freedom in Burma. Our wor, sex work must not be used for other poeople’s agendas. ILO reports 48% of people trafficked in Thailand from Burma are men and boys into the fishing industries. The rest are spread between five occupations, with domestic workers the next highest. Traffickiking is an issue for every occupation…not just a problem for sex workers to solve.
empower


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