WUNRN
BURMA - THREATS AGAINST WOMEN HUMAN
RIGHTS DEFENDERS FOR OPPOSING THE DISCRIMINATORY INTERFAITH MARRIAGE BILL
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) supports our members,
women human rights defenders and allied movements defending women’s rights in
Burma / Myanmar and consequently opposing the Interfaith Marriage Bill[1].
According to information gathered by APWLD members, at least four activists
have received threats after including their contact information in early May
2014 in a public statement objecting to the
Interfaith Marriage Bill. Since then, they have received anonymous phone
calls and online messages threatening them, including death threats. One
activist was forced to change her handset over concerns about data security; while
another is reluctant to connect to the Internet on her phone due to the
threatening messages. The safety of these activists’ families are also a
high concern..
If enacted, the Bill would violate the rights and fundamental freedoms of
Buddhist women. It would force women to get permission from parents and
government officials to marry non-Buddhist men. The Bill imposes a patriarchal
concept of marriage that assumes women pass from property of the father to the
husband, violating women’s rights to freely choose their religion, cultural
beliefs and practices, partners, sexuality.This Bill has the potential to
violate their freedom of expression, association and movement.
If read in its entirety – with all four proposed Laws – the Bill is designed to
foster a nation of one religion and one ethnicity while marginalizing or even
criminalizing others. Consequently the Bill systematically marginalizes
women who belong to other religions or ethnicities.
It is evident that the Bill is dividing the community and inciting conflict,
hatred and violence within the country. Further, the harassment, intimidation
and threats against women human rights defenders attempting to engage in their
democratic right to debate public policy violates their rights to expression,
movement and safety.
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APWLD
is a leading network of over 180 women’s rights organizations and activists
representing groups of diverse women from 26 countries in the Asia Pacific
region.