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A/HRC/56/CRP.8 discrimination of any kind, including on this basis of sex and sexual orientation.13 States parties are obligated to protect children from sexual abuse, trafficking, and other forms of exploitation.14 In 2012, Myanmar acceded to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which requires states parties to prohibit and take measures to proactively prevent these abuses. 30. Myanmar is also a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Both of these treaties guarantee rights to women, girls, and LGBT people without discrimination, including on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender expression.15 Myanmar is not a party to several foundational human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. However, many of the rights enshrined in these treaties, including the right to non-discrimination, are also protected by customary international law and thus are binding upon Myanmar. B. International humanitarian law and international criminal law 31. Conflict between the Myanmar military and resistance groups in many parts of the country constitutes non-international armed conflict and is therefore subject to customary international humanitarian law and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.16 Both customary international humanitarian law and Common Article 3 prohibit rape and other forms of sexual violence.17 13 14 15 16 17 Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 2(1) (“States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.”); Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 4: Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC/GC/2003/4, 1 July 2003, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FGC %2F2003%2F4&Lang=en, para. 6 (“These grounds also cover adolescents’ sexual orientation and health status.”). Convention on the Rights of the Child, articles 19(1), 34, and 35. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 3 January 1976, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/cescr.pdf, article 2(2); Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20, Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, UN Doc. E/C.12/GC/20, 2 July 2009, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=E%2FC.12%2 FGC%2F20&Lang=en, para. 32 (“‘Other status’ as recognized in article 2, paragraph 2, includes sexual orientation.”); Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 12 December 2006, https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-personsdisabilities, article 5(2); Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, General comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and nondiscrimination, UN Doc. CRPD/C/GC/6, 26 April 2018, para. 21 (“Protection against “discrimination on all grounds” means that all possible grounds of discrimination and their intersections must be taken into account. Possible grounds include … sex; pregnancy and maternity/paternity … gender expression; sex…”). Myanmar ratified the four Geneva Conventions in 1992. International Committee of the Red Cross, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Rules, Rule 93. Rape and Other forms of Sexual Violence, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customaryihl/v1/rule93. Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions prohibits “violence to life and 9

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Courage amid crisis: gendered impacts of the coup and the pursuit of gender equality in Myanmar

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Human Rights Council

Date Published: Jul 1, 2024

Abstract: The 1 February 2021 military coup precipitated an unprecedented human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. Armed conflict, displacement, economic collapse, hunger, and the junta’s gross human rights violations threaten the lives and well-being of people in every corner of the country. Women, girls, and LGBT people are severely and uniquely impacted by this crisis, yet these impacts are all too often obscured and ignored by the international community. This conference room paper seeks to shed light on the gendered impacts of the coup and the Myanmar military junta’s gross human rights violations. It has been made possible by the guidance, testimony, and insights of those who are working courageously and tenaciously to address these challenges. They have made it clear that while women and LGBT people have suffered enormously, they are playing a critical role as human rights defenders and leaders in the resistance movement. The threat of sexual and gender-based violence is a dark shadow that follows women, girls, and LGBT people throughout Myanmar. Junta forces have committed widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence, often characterized by the utmost cruelty and dehumanization. Members of resistance forces have also been responsible for abuses against women, girls, and LGBT people. Accountability for sexual and gender-based violence is extremely rare, and survivors struggle to access the support they need. Displacement, financial distress, and the lack of access to education and health care have caused many women and girls to adopt negative coping strategies, increasing their vulnerability to violence, human trafficking, early or forced marriage, and sexual exploitation. Rohingya women, girls, and LGBT people face heightened risks rooted in the systematic denial of citizenship and basic human rights.

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Courage amid crisis: gendered impacts of the coup and the pursuit of gender equality in Myanmar

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