A/HRC/56/CRP.8 been a significant step forward in reforming the criminal system to address gender-based violence. The coup halted consideration of the law. 54. In 2019, Parliament passed a new Child Rights Law, which prohibited all forms of violence against children. The law defines a child consistently with the Convention on the Rights of the Child as anyone under the age of 18 and sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years of age and the minimum age for employment at 14. The Child Rights Law also establishes protections for children impacted by forms of sexual violence such as sexual exploitation, child prostitution, and child pornography. It further extends protections to children who are victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and requires relevant government ministries, armed forces, and armed groups to ensure the prosecution of perpetrators responsible for such crimes.45 The political and humanitarian situation in the aftermath of the coup has precluded the enforcement and implementation of this law, and children have proved to be among the most vulnerable to the junta’s attacks. Military and junta officials have routinely disregarded legal protections for children, including those provided by the Child Rights Law, since the coup.46 55. Improvements in women’s political representation were highlighted by the 2020 elections. One in every six candidates running for parliamentary seats were women, resulting in the largest number of female members of parliament elected to public office in Myanmar’s history.47 The proportion of female representatives elected in 2020 rose to 16 percent in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and 18 percent in the fourteen State and Region Hluttaws.48 V. Sexual and gender-based violence 56. Widespread sexual and gender-based violence continues to be one of the foremost concerns of women, girls, and LGBT people in Myanmar. The Myanmar military and other SAC forces have continued longstanding patterns of sexual violence, especially against women and gender and sexual minorities. But as conflict escalates and spreads to new areas, reports of conflict-related sexual violence perpetrated by individuals in resistance forces have emerged. Domestic violence has risen dramatically since the coup and is now one of the most pervasive forms of gender-based violence impacting women and girls in Myanmar. As described in further detail in latter sections of this report, other forms of sexual and genderbased violence, including online abuse, trafficking, sexual exploitation, and early and forced marriage, have increased dramatically because of the collapse of the rule of law and the adoption of negative coping strategies.49 45 46 47 48 49 16 Child Rights Law, Chapter XVII, https://www.mlis.gov.mm/mLsView.do;jsessionid=F7B374A1A9DEC2DEF52D28C813D3F36C?la wordSn=18398. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, “Losing a Generation: How the military junta is attacking Myanmar’s children and stealing their future,” 13 June 2022, UN Doc. A/HRC/CRP.1, https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc50crp1-conference-roompaper-special-rapporteur-losing-generation. Jenny Hedstrom, Elisabeth Olivius, and Kay Soe, “Women in Myanmar: Change and Continuity,” Myanmar Politics, Economy and Society, p. 228. Myanmar Women Parliamentarians Network (MWPN) and Creative Home, “Costs of being a Woman in Politics: Experiences of Myanmar’s Women Politicians in the Post-Coup Resistance,” March 2024; Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMReF), “Gender and Political Participation in Myanmar,” October 2020, https://www.emref.org/sites/emref.org/files/publicationdocs/gender_and_political_in_myanmarenglish_online.pdf. The United Nations defines sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) as “violence directed towards, or disproportionately affecting, someone because of their gender or sex.” There are multiple forms that SGBV can take, including “acts or omissions intended or likely to cause or result in death or