WOMEN make up more than 53 per cent of the total population of Myanmar. Meanwhile, children aged under 18 years constitute a significant percentage of our country’s population. Therefore, the government, lawmakers, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and the people have a huge responsibility to help women and children.
There is no doubt that we will face challenges as we address violence against women and children, work on improving gender equality, and women’s empowerment.
To help women, creating job opportunities is a must. At the same time, our ultimate responsibility rests in preventing violence against women and children, trafficking in persons, and sexual abuse.
Traditional and social media have reported cases of violence against women, including sexual abuse and rape of minors.
A law on prevention of violence against women, which is crucial for their protection, is still in the process of being enacted.
If the law comes into effect, it would ensure more systematic and effective prevention of violence against women. We hope the bill would be enacted into law as soon as possible through the efforts of the lawmakers and ministries concerned. As the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, which is the focal ministry for prevention of violence against women and children, is planning to submit the bill to the Hluttaw, the bill can be considered to be headed in the right direction towards becoming a law. It can be said that everyone is working together to fight violence and sexual abuse against women and children.
The ministry has formed four tasks forces to implement 12 areas of the National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women and to increase women’s participation in peace processes to at least 30 per cent. At the same time, the ministry has announced that its national-level committee has already drafted a plan for prevention of violence against women in conflicts. Among other achievements, the ministry had established a 24-hour helpline service for women in 2016, and provided K150 million to women for their livelihood, and set up four One Stop Women Support Centres to provide shelter and assistance to victims of violence.
These efforts are not aimed at scoring political points. On the contrary, the willingness of MPs and experts of the ministries concerned to work together on this issue has been a source of optimism.
We need to make sure that we are making progress. The coming International Women’s Day must be a time for deeds, not words._GNLM
