Sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar and the gendered impact of its ethnic conflicts in English evidence. The police provided no additional follow-up information to the survivor more than a month after the complaint was lodged. The woman left her village out of fear of reprisals from the Tatmadaw and due to the stigma attached to being a known rape survivor.284 125. Heavily militarized mining areas also expose women to risks. The mission verified the rape of a seventy-year-old Shan woman in Monghpyak village in Tachilek Township, Shan State, on 2 April 2018.285 Hundreds of Tatmadaw soldiers were deployed in the same area as a proposed mineral exploration project operated by a Singapore company with Australian management, Access Asia Mining, which raised concerns for civil society that human rights violations may take place in that area.286 The area has a population of about 6,000 civilians. Such a large military-civilian ratio produces constant fear among local residents, particularly women.287 Sources available to the Mission and the area of operations of specific Tatmadaw military units, as well as media reports, suggest that the soldier was serving in LIB 329 or LIB 330, commanded by Military Operations Command 18 (MOC18).288 The soldier abducted the woman while she was collecting vegetables in the forest close to her home. He stabbed her ear lobes with a knife while stealing her earrings, squeezed her neck, beat her on the face and raped her vaginally, causing her to lose consciousness. The military paid for her hospital fees and medicine but the survivor was not given an opportunity to provide a statement and, as of March 2019, she was unaware of any disciplinary proceeding initiated against her rapist. Reports suggest that police have only filed a case of slashing and robbery, not rape, and that the perpetrator would be brought before a court martial.289 126. The Mission received credible reports of a Kachin woman killed in Kuktai Township, Shan State, on 3 July 2019. Photos assessed by the Mission suggest that the woman may have been raped before being killed. She was murdered at her shop. 290 Sources available to the Mission and the area of operations of specific Tatmadaw military units, as well as media reports, suggest that the murder and possible rape were perpetrated by soldiers belonging to a military unit with the number 261, which has been stationed in the village since 2016.291 (iv) The situation of girls in heavily militarized areas 127. Girls face heightened risks of sexual violence in heavily militarized areas in Kachin and Shan States. The two cases provided below are in addition to the cases noted above and the more extensive facts included in the Mission’s 2018 report regarding girls being subjected to sexual and gender-based violence in northern Myanmar since 2011.292 The Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that girls, in addition to women, are acutely vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence in militarized and conflict-prone areas of northern Myanmar. 128. The Mission verified the rape of a 14-year-old Kachin girl in a village in Kuktai Township, Shan State, on 16 May 2014. Two Tatmadaw soldiers from LIB 567 stationed in the village abducted the child. One of the soldiers raped the girl next to the nursery school located in the centre of her village. When the child had not returned home, her mother searched the village calling for her daughter. The child finally returned home and told her 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 2615. GI-002, GI-014, PI-136, V-356, V-357, V-358. Access Asia Mining responded to these concerns, available at https://www.businesshumanrights.org/sites/default/files/documents/Access%20Asia%20Mining%20Response%2015%20 May%202018.pdf. See also, Shareholder Update (2 March 2018) available at http://accessasiamining.com/pdf/shareholders/AAM_Shareholder%20Update%20020318.pdf . V-356. PI-136, V-356, V-357, V-358. V-356, V-357, V-358. V-359, 2137, 2138. V-359, 2137, 2138. The Missions received varying accounts as to whether this number refers to an LIB or an IB. PI-037, PI-063, PI-141, PI-144. 31