A/HRC/56/CRP.8 Rohingya and being transgender.78 Rohingya women and LGBT people are now fearful of sexual violence by the Arakan Army as well as from Rohingya militant groups. 170. In January 2024, a Rohingya woman in Buthidaung said: Since the armed fighting between SAC and AA, we were more concerned about security. We do not want to go outside alone and do not feel safe. There are also movements of ARSA and other Rohingya armed groups … in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Township… SAC, ULA/AA members and ALP members committed rapes and sexual harassment on Rohingya women too, so we did not feel safe.79 171. Conditions in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char are increasingly desperate due to inadequate levels of humanitarian funding, rising criminal activity and violence, and a severely restricted environment for education, employment, and empowerment, particularly for Rohingya women and girls. Overcrowded living conditions in the camps have dissolved privacy for women and heightened their vulnerability to violence. Rohingya women sometimes fear for their safety to the extent that they ask male family members to accompany them when going to the restroom at night. The increasing activities of Rohingya armed groups in the camps, including reported forced recruitment, has created a climate of widespread fear with important gendered impacts. With many men and boys fleeing for safety and in hiding, women and girls remain alone, putting them at increased risk of sexual violence. Women and girls are also fearful of moving outside their shelters, impacting their access to basic services. 172. Rohingya women human rights defenders and humanitarian volunteers in Bangladesh have faced physical and verbal harassment, threats, extortion, and kidnapping because of their work outside the home often as a result of discriminatory and patriarchal attitudes in Rohingya society. Women have been threatened and harassed by men in the community for working to improve or support Rohingya girl’s education. Rohingya women human rights defenders report that they are sometimes restricted from participating in or speaking during important meetings and events in the camps. 173. Family members of Rohingya women who push back against gendered roles and expectations in the camps have also been targeted for abuse and violence solely due to their familial association. A human rights organization has documented attacks perpetrated by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Cox’s Bazar against three Rohingya women, including one transgender woman, because of their gender identity and active participation in work outside the home. A Rohingya female humanitarian worker in the camps recounted the threats she faced: ARSA threatened to detain me and kidnap me and my mother. If I go out of sight [to an NGO]. ... [T]hey will kidnap my family. ... ARSA also said that we are Muslims, and as Muslims, females cannot go outside the camp for education and jobs. If any girls do any jobs outside the camp ... they are going to bed with men, [they said].80 174. Inadequate nutrition in the camps, exacerbated by cuts to food rations, are endangering the health of vulnerable Rohingya, especially pregnant women and girls. While there are 78 79 80 38 The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Report of the detailed findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, UN Doc. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFMMyanmar/A_HRC_39_CRP.2.pdf; The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic conflicts, UN Doc. A/HRC/42/CRP.4, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFMMyanmar/sexualviolence/A_HRC_CRP_4.pdf. Testimony shared with the Special Rapporteur by a Rohingya rights researcher. Testimony shared with the Special Rapporteur by a human rights organization.