A/HRC/56/CRP.8 father might do something indecent to them. I am worried when my daughters go to school too.58 82. As described in further detail in the “Displacement and access to humanitarian aid” section below, displaced LGBT people are also vulnerable to violence from families and community members. They are isolated from their trusted support networks, and LGBT organizations lack the resources and access necessary to support them. D. Limited avenues for justice and redress 83. Justice for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence has long been an uphill battle in Myanmar,59 but the current conditions render accountability nearly impossible, given the SAC’s control of the judiciary and the collapse of the rule of law. Survivors who report violence rarely receive adequate justice or protection from future violence. The lack of accountability for sexual and gender-based violence exacerbates impunity for perpetrators, normalizing future cycles of horrific abuse. 84. Since the coup, the SAC has subordinated the judiciary to its will, weaponizing courts to oppress and jail political opponents rather than advance justice. The lack of a functioning judicial system has foreclosed the possibility of holding military soldiers accountable for their crimes, including in cases of sexual and gender-based violence. Survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, especially conflict-related sexual violence, almost never seek out the formal justice system. In a recent survey of 130 women living in Yangon conducted by a civil society organization, the majority did not engage a formal justice mechanism in sexual and gender-based violence cases. Survivors of domestic violence similarly do not generally seek out formal mechanisms, preferring instead to settle cases through traditional or local justice pathways. In areas with active conflict and fighting, access to courts and lawyers is logistically impossible. In areas without fighting, the justice system reportedly moves slowly and requires enormous time and monetary investments by survivors. Women generally have little knowledge of legal protections available for sexual and gender-based violence. 85. When military soldiers commit acts of sexual violence, the barriers to justice are especially high. Perpetrators have threatened to harm or kill survivors or families if they report crimes. The military retains direct influence on civilian courts and has the constitutional authority to resolve military justice issues independently. It continues to deny responsibility for atrocity crimes and abuses and regularly fails to investigate or take action against alleged perpetrators, contributing to the widespread nature of sexual violence and leaving survivors with no alternative means of redress. 86. According to reports received by the Special Rapporteur, in some areas, local administrations affiliated with the National Unity Government handle cases of gender-based violence committed by civilians. When resistance fighters are the alleged perpetrators, cases are sometimes handled by judicial processes set up by resistance forces themselves. Civil society organizations have reported a lack of proper procedures and weak legal protection of survivors and victims in these proceedings. Where there is redress, it is often in the form of monetary compensation to survivors for the harm committed rather than punitive justice, contributing to the survivors’ increased reluctance to report the cases. For instance, in Monywa, Sagaing Region, about one-third of reported cases are allegedly addressed through monetary compensation. Some women’s groups have been told by political leaders in the resistance movement that resolving cases related to sexual abuse is not a priority at present 58 59 22 Testimony shared with the Special Rapporteur by a women’s rights organization. See, for example, Independent Investigative Mission for Myanmar, “Efforts to investigate and punish sexual and gender-based crimes committed against the Rohingya: Evidence Analysis,” 27 March 2024, https://iimm.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SGBC-Report_EN.pdf.