Effects on physical health

Effects on physical health

Although specific physical details are not available in most of the incidents in this report, in several of the cases it was clear that the survivor was severely injured during the assault. In several cases, survivors were unconscious when found after the incident, and in at least two cases, the survivor was unable to walk. One of the cases was a woman who was gang-raped when she was 7-months pregnant, and who then gave birth prematurely to her child.

Naang Hla (not her real name), was left alone, sick and numb, in the small hut in the jungle. She was too dizzy to stand or walk. She had a constant headache, violent diarrhea, and bled so profusely that she thought she had lost the baby. Still alone, four days later, Naang Hla gave birth to her child, after only seven months of pregnancy. (case 160)

As mentioned in the previous section, in eleven of the cases, the girls or women were treated in hospital. Only in one of these cases were details available of the nature of the injury, namely of the five-year-old girl whose sexual organs had been seriously damaged. Periods of stay in hospital were up to 10 days, and in one case, the patient had to visit hospital five times. In one of the cases, it was mentioned that the hospital costs totaled 17,000 kyat, which had to be paid by the woman herself. 

In five of the cases, even though they were not hospitalized, there was mention of unspecified illness, lasting for several months. 

Only in one of the cases was it revealed that the survivor had become pregnant following gang-rape by seven Burmese army soldiers.