Nobel Women's Initiative - Home
Join Us Donate
  • Home
  • Who We Are

    Since 2006 we have worked in solidarity with women's movements, organizations, and activists around the world to build peace, defend justice, and champion equality for all.
    • The Laureates

      • Rigoberta Menchú Tum
      • Jody Williams
      • Shirin Ebadi
      • Leymah Gbowee
      • Tawakkol Karman
      • Maria Ressa
      • Narges Mohammadi
      • Oleksandra Matviichuk
    • The Board

      • Profiles
    • Supporters

      • Individual and institutional donors
    • Staff

      • Profiles
  • What We Do

    Nobel Women's Initiative delivers programs, events, training, mentorship, advocacy and campaigns.
    • Areas of Work

      • Influencing Change
      • Shifting the Narrative
      • Leading Peace Together
    • News & Information

      • Press releases and Statements
      • Annual & Thematic Reports
      • Blog
  • Our Approach

    This is why and how we work to increase the visibility of women striving for peace, justice and equality.
    • About Us

      • Vision, Mission, Feminist Principles
      • Highlights of our Work
      • History & Background
    • What's Our Approach?

      • Transition and Renewal
      • Strategic Directions 2023-2027
  • Get Involved

    Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on opportunities to join us in our work.
      • Donate
    • Work With Us

      • Jobs
Join Us Donate
  1. Shifting the Narrative
  2. 16 Days of Activism
  3. Meet Shirley Seng, Burma

Meet Shirley Seng, Burma

A strong defender of the rights of women and the ethnic people of Burma.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
Meet Shirley Seng, Burma

Originally from Burma, Shirley has resided in Thailand for the past forty years. She left her country during an economic crisis that shook most of the country. In Thailand, she began passionately investing her time into working with the Kachin community. The Kachin are an ethnic minority from northern Burma, near China. Like most ethnic people of Burma, they have suffered a long list of abuses at the hands of the Burmese military junta.

A decade ago, Shirley came together with other Kachin women to form the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT).
Shirley firmly believes that, “If you don’t have a women’s organization women are not there to speak out about the problems [in Burma].” She works diligently to train women from Kachin State to speak out about the abuses that they both endure and witness.

This year, Shirley played a major role in KWAT’s production of a critically important report, Burma’s Cover-up War: Atrocities Against the Kachin People. Among other types of abuse, the report documents in detail the extraordinarily high incidents of rape in Kachin state—committed by the military—and the regular use of sexual violence as a weapon.

Shirley is skeptical about the new Burmese government’s claims to be slowly moving towards democracy. Her experience is that life has not changed much for the ethnic communities of Burma. This is why her organization has focused on systematically documenting human rights abuses. This sort of information is an important counter-point to the Burmese government’s powerful propaganda machine.

Shirley and her colleagues hope that the international community will see these documents, and understand the devastating war that is still being waged on her people.  It is time we stood in solidarity with Shirley and the Kachin by insisting our governments don’t turn a blind eye to the human rights abuses in Burma.

LEARN MORE

Visit the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand

Read their report: Burma's Cover up War: Atrocities Against The Kachin People

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

16 Days of Activism

November 25, 2022

Afrah Nassar: "Believe that you are worth listening to."

November 25, 2022

Jamila Afghani: “We should extend hands of support to each other."

November 25, 2022

Mèaza Gidey Gebremedhin: “I always need to fight for myself, for my place in this world, and to help others.”

November 25, 2022

A Q&A with democracy activist Khin Ohmar: "I feel at peace knowing there is a young generation fighting for their rights."

November 25, 2022

Amira Osman Hamed: "Don't let them terrify you."

November 25, 2022

Lubna Alkanawati: "What's really helped me to survive is the women's network around me."

November 25, 2022

Nina Potarska, Anna Chernova and Oksana Senyk: "Family peace is a small piece of peacebuilding."

November 25, 2022

Nadia Murad: "We don't get anywhere by pacifying with politeness."

December 10, 2021

Manal Shqair: I’m always fighting every day for my existence as a woman (Palestine)

December 9, 2021

Ounaysa Arabi: Knowledge is power and we have a good inheritance from feminists around the world (Sudan)

December 9, 2021

Ilaf Nasreldin: We as women deserve to live a better life (Sudan)

December 8, 2021

Musu Diamond Kamara: When one woman is affronted, all of us are affronted (Liberia)

More — 16 Days of Activism

Nobel Women's Initiative

Contact Information

General Inquiries
Email:
261 Montreal Rd, Suite 310
Ottawa, ON K1L 8C7
Media Inquiries
Daina Ruduša
Email:

Join Us

  • Join us
  • Donate
  • Event Registration Fee

Social media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Subscribe


© 2025 Nobel Women's Initiative

Sign in to control panel Created with NationBuilder Built by Progressive Nation
Loading…