'Like a startled crow': life for a woman in Myanmar

By P.P.K Mynt, Khine Thazin Wai, Dr Melissa Johnston, Associate Professor Nicole George and Lal Ram Muani

Myanmar is grappling with an unprecedented ‘polycrisis’ that has shaped every aspect of life there for the past 4 years.

The 2021 military coup has been compounded by entrenched ethnic conflict, economic disruption and environmental degradation, impinging on the rights and freedoms of Myanmar’s people and eroding their capacity to look to a more hopeful future.   

We’ve worked with 24 female citizen researchers on the ground to document the daily challenges of living amid instability, displacement, violence and political oppression. 

One woman likened her existence to that of a “startled crow” – never able to let her guard down or think more than a day ahead, and always alert to risk.

Insecure living spaces

Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicates there are a staggering 3.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar, with many living in IDP camps. 

The camps are overcrowded with inadequate sanitation or privacy, and crime and gendered violence is commonplace. 

One woman said she didn’t feel physically or mentally secure and was “surviving in a state of constant fear”.  

Concern about secure living spaces is particularly strong for women living in areas of armed conflict or close to the epicentre of the 2024 Sagaing earthquake. 

Detention and forced conscription

Myanmar’s post-coup regime seeks to control the country through military force, which relies on detentions and forced conscription. 

As of September 2025 almost 30,000 people had been arrested on political grounds, with female detainees subjected to gendered assault such as strip searches by prison authorities. 

Forced conscription tactics are used by the military to boost its numbers, with our research suggesting women are now also being targeted.

There is also added pressure on women to look for paid work to fill household earning gaps, as male family members stay within the home to evade military surveillance.

Rising unemployment 

Accessing employment as a woman in Myanmar is far from straightforward.

Our research shows female government employees like nurses and teachers who opposed the military takeover in 2021 lost their jobs and have been denied employment elsewhere. 

Myanmar's garment industry, once a key source of employment for women, has contracted because many producers have exited the country. 

Resorting to transactional sex has reportedly become a survival strategy for those with few other earning opportunities.     

Inflationary crisis

The polycrisis fuels inflation in Myanmar because it generates a shortage of essential goods and services, which drives up prices. 

Everyday transactions are inflated even more by the military regime applying fees, tariffs and sometimes bribes to bolster its coffers.

In 2025, inflation on food in Myanmar reached an average 29.5 per cent and 50-80 per cent on essential food items in states affected by conflict or near the Sagaing earthquake. 

Women are skipping meals to make ends meet or reducing what they can share with dependents. 

One woman said they are working to avoid hunger. 

“It’s less about the economic situation and more that we are just working to avoid starvation. We don't have extra money.”  

Gender and sexual violence 

Our researchers on the ground in Myanmar uncovered how widespread gender-based violence has become as conflict, displacement and political oppression continue. 

Military forces allegedly use rape, gang rape, torture, abduction and forced marriage as forms of intimidation to target female relatives of resistance fighters. 

In these conditions, fleeing can intensify the risk of gender-based violence.

One woman said, “there is no safety in travel.”

Our local researchers also reported on the gendered insecurity of the IDP camps where women often feel unsafe bathing or sleeping because of prolific instances of rape, gang rape and sexual assault.  

This insecurity is worsened by the incidents not being punished. 

Women fear reporting to state authorities because they are generally viewed as perpetrators of gendered violence rather than as protectors. 

Amidst these bleak assessments there is also evidence of women collaborating through civil society activity, localised empowerment initiatives and community-led gender violence support services. 

While this shows women’s capacities for resistance, this work can draw suspicion and repression. 

This International Women’s Day, it is important for us to ask why the ‘existential’ challenges that women endure in Myanmar’s polycrisis environment have not generated more international attention. 

We hope our collective project plays a small part in addressing this problem. 

The full report is available on the School of Political Science and International Studies website.