Tin Tin Nyo

Tin Tin Nyo is a feminist fighting for gender justice and peace in Burma/Myanmar. As an activist and women human rights defender, Tin Tin Nyo has travelled to many different countries to advocate and lobby international, regional, and local governments and communities to get support for pro-democracy movements, strengthen women rights movements, and build networks. Currently, she is working as Managing Director of Burma News International (BNI) which is an ethnic/local media network of 16 members based in different parts of the country, especially in the ethnic State. 

APWLD interviewed Tin Tin in January 2021 and below is her story.

Fighting for gender justice and peace in Burma/Myanmar 

I am an advisor for BWU (Burmese Women’s Union), which I joined when I was 17 years old as an intern. I served BWU as chairperson from 2015 to 2021. 

During our congress in January 2021, BWU did away with having a president or chairperson and adapted a secretariat system. We have always aimed to implement changes in the country, and we are very keen to educate and empower the next generation of feminist leaders, who we hope will take up positions traditionally filled by men. We need to develop feminist leadership among different generations in our movement and within our organisation to make sure our focus stays consistent and far-reaching. Our struggle will not reach complete success anytime soon, because our goal is to change people’s mindsets which takes generations.

Until 2015, I worked for WLB (Women’s League of Burma) as the General Secretary for four years and then as a Policy Board member for six years. 

Now I am a media advocate for women’s rights and gender equality, calling for the media to include more women’s voices. 

Currently, I am the Managing Director of Burma News International (BNI), an independent media network with16 members based across Burma/Myanmar. Because it is a male-dominated network, I chose to work with them so that I could influence them and change their mindset, hiring practices, and products so that they will be more sensitive to gender equality. I make a point of fiercely objecting to backward decisions. At an annual meeting, when one of the chief editors shot down a proposal for an educational piece on abortion, I immediately objected to his decision and spoke about the importance of sex education, which includes abortion as a woman’s basic right. 

In 2011, the new government was established through elections, effectively ending the militarisation of Burma/Myanmar while staying fundamentally the same, with 25 per cent of parliament made up of military officials, who entered by default rather than by election. The military remains in absolute power and a military coup is still possible. (Editor’s Note: The interview was conducted in January 2021, before the 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup). 

Burma’s political context has a direct bearing on the feminist movement. Under this kind of violent and male-dominated system, feminist movements are met with neglect, reluctance, and resistance from the government. We experience setbacks, as the new government tries to restore the old system and compromise feminist progress by excluding us or any strong feminist organisations or activists from the policy-making process. 

As such, it becomes especially and extremely crucial that feminist organisations join forces to foster the movement and avoid burnout, which leads to frustration, repeated but fruitless efforts, and a sense of isolation. The process of changing a society entrenched with male privilege and class privilege is bound to be long and with setbacks. I also remind myself of our many successes, such as the increase of women representation from 13 per cent of parliamentarians being women to 17 per cent. 

Growing together with APWLD

I connected with APWLD many, many years ago when we produced a documentary film about women migrant workers and organised workshops with APWLD’s support. 

BWU first connected with APWLD in 2015 as part of the Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) training. I commend APWLD for developing FPAR. We have been using it for every research project, including one we conducted with garment workers, whose participation is important because they are survivors of discrimination, mistreatment, and oppression. We rarely get results when we go to the government or the policymakers with research papers. Going with the garment workers themselves, the walking evidence and data of our research topics, strengthened the movement is strengthened a great deal. Using FPAR, we were not only able to collect information and data, but we also had the opportunity to build their capacity and raise awareness for advocacy.

I invited APWLD to join and facilitate our Organisational Development Strategy Planning before Congress in 2018. At the meeting, we used the Theory of Change created by APWLD to concretise our goals, map out relevant strategies and plans, and produce sustainable changes.

With our focus on political rights, we were not able to give enough attention to economic and labour rights. With APWLD, I became aware that women must understand, question, and influence economic policies, paying close attention to the development sector. Otherwise, we would be misguided and further disadvantaged not just economically. We need to know what kind of tax the government collects from us and how they are using our tax money. By raising awareness, we find cross-movement common ground. 

I am very impressed by APWLD’s role as an active regional feminist network, helping us connect with other feminist organisations from the Asia-Pacific, especially other ASEAN countries. With these organisations and APWLD, we are expanding the women’s movement in Burma/Myanmar. I spoke at the APWLD-organised Asia Pacific Feminist Forum in Chiang Mai, and it was really a memorable experience. It is a shame that we are too occupied with our internal affairs to take part more often in APWLD’s events and activities.

Both my organisations and I have made precious connections through APWLD, connections that our inspirations and allies. 

Ways moving forward

We need to expand the feminist movement’s vision beyond our local and national causes and see how people in the region often suffer from the same issues. Burma/Myanmar faces militarisation, gender discrimination, a poor legal system, and climate crisis, but so do many other Asia Pacific countries, like the Philippines. 

In some cases, countries’ issues are worsened by other countries in this region, which also warrants regional collaboration between organisations. China is a big investor, meaning many of our environmental, labour rights, and gender issues, labour rights issues and gender issues are exacerbated by China’s presence, practices, and influence in our country. Developed countries invest in ASEAN countries because our governments compromise our natural environments and human rights for economic gain. 

When the climate crisis escalates, who will suffer the most and first? The women. Who is most vulnerable to food and job insecurity? The women. 

We need to think about the big picture, remember how all issues are connected, and create more regional and sub-regional linkages.