Crisis under the Coup explores gender-based violence against women working in the media (March 2024)
By Myanmar Women in Media
MYANMAR DIGITAL RESEARCH 11
Executive summary
Women media professionals around the world face gender-based discrimination, gender-based violence, and sexual harassment. Following the coup in 2021, many women media professionals relocated from Myanmar to Thailand, specifically, Mae Sot and Chiang Mai. To date, there is limited research on gender-based discrimination, gender-based violence and sexual harassment specifically targeting women in media in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. The data that does exist has remained unpublished or with limited access.
The research used a qualitative research methodology. Methods for this piece consisted of targeted focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The focus group discussions consisted of 36 women and 20 men across Chiang Mai and Mae Sot. While this piece focuses on the experiences of women as the primary sources of data, men and LGBTQ members provide important insight and perspectives through their personal experiences, as witnesses to their women colleagues’ experiences, and in obtaining diverse input addressing these problems. LGBTQ members were included because their sexual orientations and
gender identity are often underrepresented in women focused research. LGBTQ members participated in the groups they self-selected and felt most comfortable participating. Safety and security were of highest priority. Therefore, the study used purposive sampling to ensure respondents had the strongest fit for the study. We then used snowball sampling to add additional focus group discussion members and key informant interview connections.
The study was based on three research questions.
- First, what are the main forms of gender-based discrimination, gender-based violence, and sexual harassment experienced by women media professionals?
- Secondly, in confronting these challenges, what strategies do women media professionals use when facing these challenges?
- Thirdly, what are the current needs to overcome these challenges according to the interviews?
This Myanmar Digital Research paper was produced for the Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative, with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with support from The SecDev Foundation. Views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of either organization.
Over the next two years, twenty papers in the Myanmar Digital Research series will have researchers within and in the Myanmar diaspora exploring how the digital world is shaping their social, political and economic crisis, bringing new insights into issues facing Myanmar citizens. See below for others available now.