The Myanmar junta killed 15 women and arrested at least 35 other according to a statement by the Burmese Women’s Union.

It said that eight of the women were killed when junta soldiers fired artillery into villages and three of the women were burned alive.

The statement said that there had been a significant increase in the number of women arrested in February.

Ma Zuzu, the Joint Secretary of the Burmese Women’s Union said: “The Military Council allegedly arrested the 35 women because they posted and shared about politics and PDFs [people’s defence forces] on social media and supported and helped PDFs. Also, we found that women who participated in the CDM [Civil Disobedience Movement] were also arrested.”

The 35 arrested women were from Tanintharyi, Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, Yangon, Sagaing and Bago regions, and Shan and Mon States.

Ma Zuzu also said that women in prisons lack access to adequate health care and face torture during interrogations, sexual abuse, threats, coercion and exploitation.

According to the Burmese Women's Union in the two years since the February 2021 coup until 25 February 2023, more than 3,125 women have been arrested and 570 of them are still imprisoned. A further 420 were killed in the same period.

The Burmese Women’s Union said that collecting accurate data in the field was hard and that the real figures for abuses against women might be far higher.