A/HRC/56/CRP.8 and gender-based violence will be addressed after the revolution succeeds. A female activist said: All of us need to transform and change among and within ourselves. Just defeating the SAC is not enough. I would like to see [that] the perpetrators are properly, appropriately, and severely punished for the crimes they commit until victims [and] survivors are satisfied with it. If the persons … are found to be guilty, bold decisions are needed to punish the guilty accordingly and effectively. If not, if those perpetrators take the cover of being revolutionary fighters or hide behind the revolution so that they won’t get punished for what they did, we could say we are not successful in changing the political system.60 87. With the absence of formal legal mechanisms, traditional and informal justice mechanisms are applied to sexual and gender-based violence cases across the country, including in ethnic areas. These processes rarely provide an adequate outcome for the survivor. Informal justice mechanisms often involve mediation by a third party, such as village leaders, community elders, or ethnic revolutionary organization leaders, who are usually men. Oftentimes those involved in the resolution of cases have little awareness or sensitivity to issues relating to gender and sexual orientation. 88. The remedies provided by traditional mechanisms are often grossly inadequate. In some cases that are resolved through community elders, alleged perpetrators have merely been ordered to apologize to the survivor. In other cases, perpetrators have been required to pay compensation to the survivor’s family, perform symbolic cleaning services, or sign a pledge committing to refrain from further violence. In some cases, local leaders have reportedly taken a portion of the survivor’s compensation through these practices. Customary practices sometimes involve brokering or forcing marriage between the survivor and perpetrator. 89. In cases involving an armed resistance fighter, the perpetrator’s superior officers often determine punishment, which can reportedly range from extremely lenient to a death sentence. Often, survivors are not involved in the resolution. Some survivors and families have been ordered not to report cases that have been addressed by ethnic resistance organizations or community elders. A representative from an ethnic women’s organization told the Special Rapporteur: Even before the coup, women were victims of gender-based violence. After the coup, the situation has become worse than before. There is no court, no judge, and no lawyer. So if we have any sexual violence cases, we do not know where to go or where to report. We only have traditional customs … any sexual violence case has to be resolved in a traditional custom way. When we use our own traditional custom, leaders are male dominated, almost all cases are done by compensation. 90. In some ethnic areas, ethnic resistance organizations and state consultative councils are developing justice mechanisms that can more formally address sexual and gender-based violence cases. For example, the Ta’ang Political Consultative Council is reportedly developing a special action plan to address sexual and gender-based violence in Ta’ang areas. In Karen State, some cases are resolved through the Karen National Union’s judiciary system, in coordination with the Karen Women’s Organization and Karen Legal Assistance Center. Across ethnic areas, local groups report that township and village administrators often link survivors with women’s organizations for further support. 91. Regardless of some efforts to improve the system, the current lack of viable justice pathways sends the message to survivors that they are not a priority and their experiences are unimportant. This compounds discrimination based on social and cultural norms that 60 Testimony shared with the Special Rapporteur by a women’s rights organization. 23