IN A crowded church compound that has been converted into a displacement shelter in Chin state, western Myanmar, 19-year-old Esther quietly washes and folds a bloodstained cloth behind a plastic sheet hanging between bamboo poles.
Around her, dozens of women and children wait for evening prayers as rainwater leaks through the roof above them.
“There are months when we have nothing,” she says. “Sometimes, we use old clothes, sometimes leaves, or torn blankets. Women feel ashamed talking about it, but this has become part of surviving the war.”
The intensifying civil war in Myanmar is triggering a deepening menstrual-health crisis for thousands of displaced Christian women and girls in conflict-hit ethnic regions, where, aid workers say, military restrictions and collapsing supply chains have made even basic hygiene products increasingly inaccessible.
In Christian-majority areas such as the Chin, Kachin, Karenni, and Karen states, women displaced by air strikes, village burnings, and military offensives are reportedly relying on unsafe alternatives, after severe shortages of sanitary pads and hygiene supplies.
Church-linked humanitarian groups and local volunteers say that the crisis has worsened sharply over the past year, as fighting has escalated between Myanmar’s military junta and resistance forces across ethnic-minority regions.
“The junta blocks supplies entering many resistance-controlled areas, and prices have doubled or tripled,” says Pastor Thang Lian, who helps to co-ordinate relief efforts for displaced families in Chin state. “Food itself is difficult to arrange. Hygiene products for women become the last priority, even though the suffering is immense.”
Since the 2021 military coup, Myanmar’s armed conflict has displaced millions of civilians, particularly in ethnic-minority regions where Christian communities form a significant population. Aid workers say that the military’s strategy of “four cuts” — aimed at severing access to food, medicine, funds, and supplies for resistance groups — has also trapped civilians in worsening humanitarian conditions.
Women living in overcrowded camps and forest hideouts describe growing cases of infections and skin diseases linked to poor menstrual hygiene and lack of medical care. “Girls cry because they cannot manage their periods safely,” a church volunteer in Karenni, Maria Naw, said.
“Some stop leaving shelters during menstruation because they fear embarrassment. War has taken away even basic dignity.”
With hospitals damaged, roads blocked, and humanitarian access restricted, the gaps left by collapsing public services are increasingly filled by churches and underground Christian aid networks; but their workers warn that needs are rapidly outpacing resources.
“In war, women’s suffering often becomes invisible,” Pastor Lian says. “People count bombs and deaths, but nobody counts the silent humiliation women endure every month.”
Tauseef Ahmad and Sajid Raina are Kashmir-based freelance journalists.