Burma Issues - Women & Children

Women in many areas of Burma face significant social and economic challenges. Women have less access to education, they have a lower literacy rate and are usually the ones performing lower paid unskilled jobs. Even with Aung San Suu Kyi as a role model, there are still few women occupying decision making positions in Burma. Within the family, boys are usually favored over girls, and the country's difficult economic situation leads most families to provide boys with a larger share of the limited family resources. As a result, girls and women frequently suffer from poor nutrition, and lower levels of access to medical services and education. Moreover, women are also direct victims of the ongoing violent conflict in Burma, as they face the same challenges and human rights violations as men, but are also frequent victims of sexual violence, rape, torture, and slavery by military troops.

The situation of children in Burma is also dire. Many are recruited to be soldiers, some as young as 11 years old, in order to provide labor for the military. The lack of education among children is alarming, and even though many enroll in schools, few are able to complete even primary levels. Children also suffer under the lack of an adequate healthcare system - Pneumonia, diarrhea, and septicemia are all common diseases, and one out of every ten children dies before the age of five.

Women and children are also frequent victims of human trafficking, mainly to China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and South Korea, where they become forced laborers and sex workers.