Rights and Democracy and the Quebec Women’s Federation are coordinating Canada’s “Panties for Peace” movement, launched yesterday to urge women to mail their undergarments to the Burmese Embassy in Ottawa. (The launch coincides with the Burmese junta’s renewal of house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for another year.)
The Panties for Peace initiative was started in October 2007 by Lanna Action for Burma, an activist group based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, after the junta’s brutal crackdown on protests for democracy led by monks. According to organizers, the members of the junta, in particular its leader, General Than Shwe, believe that any contact with women’s panties or sarongs will make them lose their strength. Burmese embassies in Thailand, Singapore, Australia, UK and other European countries were targeted in the initial campaign.
This is a powerful, non-violent way for women to empower themselves against a brutal, repressive and superstitious military regime.
Here’s the address to send your underpants (preferably used) in Canada:
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar, Ottawa
85 Range Road, Suite 902-903
The Sandringham, Ottawa
Ontario KIN 8J6
Telephone: (613) 232-6434
Facsimile: (613) 232-6435
Email: meott@magma.ca
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