The Plight of the Karenni women

Internally Displaced People

Inside the Karenni state a population of 79,300 has been displaced either in hiding sites, relocation sites or ceasefire areas.

Women in relocation sites are sometimes coerced to work in the army base. Their duties include fetching water, cleaning the area, and cooking food for the army. At night some of them are forced to sleep with army officials. Victims are asked not to tell anybody or they will be killed. Wives or suspected wives of ethnic armies are arrested and sometimes tortured.

Forced labor such us carrying army supplies, road construction, farming and other manual work applies to all genders. In the absence of an adult male in the family, women or even children do the strenuous jobs. If the male member in the family is unable to do physical work, it is the female member who takes the responsibility. Or if the mother has to take care of small children, it is not unusual for young girls to work as porters for the army.

Health services are hardly accessed, contributing to high child mortality and malnutrition rates. Although unrecorded as yet, HIV/AIDS transmission can be said to have spread rapidly due to rampant sexual exploitation and inadequate health programs.

Inside Karenni State, most of the village heads are women since no man is willing to lead the community for fear of arrest, torture or imprisonment by the SPDC battalion troops.

Refugees

The Karenni refugees constitute approximately 13 percent of the total registered refugee populations in Thailand. In the Karenni refugee camps, almost 40 percent of the camp populations are children from 14 years old and below; females represent 48 percent of the total population.

Domestic abuse is the most common form of gender-based violence. Male aggression and unawareness of women's rights are the primary causes of domestic violence. The poor living conditions inside the camp, the limited or lack of livelihood opportunities, idleness, suppressed freedom, and stress are contributing factors to the issue. Cases of rape and sexual abuse have been heard and revealed by victims themselves but most of these are left unreported and unresolved.

Over the years there has been a constant increase of populations in both camps due to new refugee arrivals and new births mostly by women below 20 years old. Of the total number of new births and pregnancy, at least five cases involved unmarried women.

While refugees receive various forms of assistance from international organizations in terms of food ration, education, health care, skills development trainings and other social services, there remains an apparent need to extend a much focused, issue-based and responsive support systems to sectoral groups, particularly women and children.