15. Building Women’s Confidence to Participate in Village Affairs

“Women do not run as candidates or nominate other women during an election. Women are less confident to nominate themselves because they are worried about other people’s perceptions.”

Thapyay Bin Village, Inle Lake, Nyaung Shwe Township, December 2019

Daw Mu Mu Aye is the Secretary of Shwe Inlay and head of the Nyaung Shwe chapter of May Doe Kabar network which represents women in the Intha community. Specifically, she is an advocate for women who have faced different types of gender-based violence, and she organizes and facilitates trainings regarding women’s rights and laws affecting women. She also operates a self-help group and manages her own business, selling handicrafts and home-made soap.

Her aim is to build women’s confidence to participate in village affairs, enhance livelihoods, and empower women to speak out in their respective communities. Currently, Shwe Inlay coordinates with Cherry Image, Southern Shan CSO network, and the Rule of Law Center in Taunggyi, in order to conduct capacity building trainings. She believes that if more women attend trainings, then they will have more confidence to participate in village affairs.

From Daw Mu Mu Aye’s perspective, barriers to women’s political participation stem from women’s lack of confidence and knowledge. For example, she stated that before 2010, women could just sit and listen during village meetings; they never talked back to men. After 2010, many CSOs and NGOs began conducting leadership and gender trainings, so women gained more knowledge and began to actively discuss village affairs at meetings. She noted that now the entire community accepts women’s participation in village affairs. Consequently, women now serve on village development committees and are members of women’s groups in their villages.

According to Daw Mu Mu Aye, another challenge for women is that they have not seen examples of women’s leadership in the government administration. There is only one woman who is the 100 household head; otherwise, there are no women in the village administration. During elections, women do not often participate, as she stated, “Women do not run as candidates or nominate other women during an election. Women are less confident to nominate themselves because they are worried about other people’s perceptions.”

Advocating for women who have experienced gender-based violence is a critical part of Daw Mu Mu Aye’s work: she has assisted in rape and trafficking cases, seeking justice for victims. For example, she prevented a young woman from being trafficked, as she was traveling from Loikaw to Yangon by bus. She then organized an anti-trafficking awareness training outside of Loikaw. She also assisted the Women’s Affairs Commission from Hae Yar Ywarma Village to take legal action in a child rape case. The perpetrator was prosecuted due to the persistence of Daw Mu Mu Aye and the Women’s Affairs Commission members who insisted that the district judge prosecute the perpetrator to the full extent of the law. Therefore, Daw Mu Mu Aye is confident to speak and liaise with government officials and judicial officials.

Although her formal education was limited, Daw Mu Mu Aye has confidence to be a leader in the Intha community. “I do not have a degree, but I attended a lot of trainings. In 2014, I did not get any salary. Then I brought my loom from Inlay to Nyaung Shwe at the Shwe Inlay office. I had to weave and then sold bags at the market. I was a volunteer. Then I learned how to use a computer. People asked me why I was learning how to use a computer because I was too old. People criticized me a lot. Now I have a salary, I go to Yangon, Mandalay, and I do NGO work and attend a lot of trainings.”

Daw Mu Mu Aye shares her experience with others to encourage young women. She mentioned that she wants to change parents’ opinion and ideologies about their daughters’ education. Parents often favour their sons and give them more opportunities. Therefore, she encourages women to continue their education and also to attend capacity building trainings. Daw Mu Mu Aye is an effective community mobilizer, and she strives to raise awareness about gender equality in the Intha community.

A fisherman in Inlay Lake, Nyaung Shwe Township, December 2019

View of Inle Lake, Nyaung Shwe Township December 2019