BURMA: 81 Women Raped, 36 Killed by Burma Army Soldiers: WLB

Within the 8-month long armed conflict against ethnic groups in Shan and Kachin States, Burma Army soldiers have raped 81 women and girls, of which 36 were killed, the Women's League of Burma (WLB) said.
In a statement released yesterday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, WLB said the 'continued' suffering of women and girls in Burma from physical, mental and sexual violence in their native places is ascribed to a direct result of militarism.
President Thein Sein's government is slammed for deploying its troops to continue using rape as a weapon of war much the same as the previous regimes of SLORC and SPDC.
WLB urged Burma's new government to include women participants in every 'peace talk' while calling for an immediate end to militarism to eliminate violence against women in the country.
In Burma, women make up half of the total population, according to the statement.
In 2007, the Women's League of Chinland documented 38 cases of sexual violence committed by Burma Army soldiers across Chin State.
Founded on 9 December 1999, the Women's League of Burma (WLB) is an umbrella organization comprising 13 already-existing women's organizations of different ethnic backgrounds from Burma, committed to working for the advancement of the status of women towards a peaceful and just society.