Rohingya Women, Architects of Justice: A Political Genealogy of Leadership

Sahat Zia Hero
20 hours ago
7 min read

Updated: 7 hours ago

Writing and photography by Sahat Zia Hero

Author’s Note: This essay seeks to document the political genealogy of Rohingya women, engaging with the oral histories and legal testimonies they have bravely placed on the public record. It aims to amplify the strategies of resilience developed by the women themselves, from the parliamentarians of the 1950s to the survivor-advocates of today.

Cho Ma Win, a camp activist, raises her voice alone, calling for a Safe Zone for Rohingya in Myanmar. © Sahat Zia Hero

As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague opens its historic public hearings on the merits of the genocide case on January 12, 2026, the world's attention returns to the Rohingya. Yet, this pursuit of accountability is not new; it is the culmination of decades of resistance. For over 70 years, the Rohingya people have faced systematic persecution, displacement, and erasure at the hands of the Myanmar military. Within this violence, Rohingya women were deliberately targeted through sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), used as a weapon to destroy families, dignity, and the future of an entire community.

Yet out of this brutality has emerged one of the most powerful forces of resistance: Rohingya women’s leadership. From parliament halls in post-independence Burma to refugee camps, courtrooms, and global advocacy spaces, Rohingya women have transformed from primary targets of genocide into architects of justice, storytellers of truth, and guardians of hope.

Jaitun Nara, a Rohingya photographer, documents life from within the camps, reclaiming narrative power. © Sahat Zia Hero

A Forgotten History of Political Leadership

The narrative that Rohingya women were historically absent from public life is false. After Burma’s independence in 1948, the Rohingya were officially recognised as an indigenous ethnic group and actively participated in national politics.

A defining figure of this era was Daw Aye Nyunt (Zura Begum), elected to the Union Parliament in 1951 representing Maungdaw South. She was one of only two women MPs at the time and stood alongside national figures such as Khin Ky, mother of Aung San Suu Kyi. Her political career, and that of her family, directly contradicts claims that Rohingya are recent migrants. As she sat in the legislative chamber, she was not just representing her constituency; she was living proof of the Rohingya’s indigenous status in the Union of Burma.

This era of recognition ended abruptly with military rule. The 1962 coup and the 1982 Citizenship Law erased Rohingya political rights and criminalised leadership itself.

Rohingya woman watering half-dead grasses during the summer, desperately try to green the environment around her home in the Refugee Camp at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. © Sahat Zia Hero

Leadership Under Repression

As political space vanished, a new form of leadership emerged: resilience under repression. Teza (Daw Tiza), wife of elected MP U Kyaw Min, embodies this era. When the military refused to honour the results of the 1990 election, in which the Rohingya-led NDPHR won four seats, Teza and her family were targeted.

In 2005, the entire family was arrested. Teza spent 17 years in Insein Prison, raising her children behind bars, including her daughter Wai Wai Nu, who would later become a global human rights leader. For this generation, the prison cell became the classroom. Teza’s leadership was one of endurance, preserving the family unit and political consciousness within the walls of a regime designed to break them.

Rohingya woman activist Rimas Khan delivers speech to the young artists in a Award Ceremony of Rohingya Art Club in the Refugee Caml at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. © Sahat Zia Hero

The Revolution in the Camps: Shanti Mohila

While diaspora leaders fought in English in international forums, a different, equally powerful leadership emerged in the bamboo shelters of Cox’s Bazar. Shanti Mohila (Peace Women) is a network of over 400 Rohingya women survivors founded in the immediate aftermath of the 2017 genocide.

Defying the conservative norms of purdah (seclusion) and the patriarchal structures of the camp, these women transformed their grief into evidence. In May 2018, they organised a campaign to collect 400 thumbprints from survivors to submit to the International Criminal Court (ICC), explicitly demanding justice.

Hamida Kathun, a leader of Shanti Mohila, frames this not as a choice, but as a biological necessity. "Justice is as important as breathing air," she famously stated. "If a person can’t breathe air, they die." By traveling to The Hague to testify, women like Hamida forced a restructuring of community respect, noting that eventually, "Even the Imams and Majhis [male leaders] started respecting me and paying attention to our work."

A woman wearing an orange coloured scarf during the 16 Days of Activism against GBV stands as a survivor demanding justice. © Sahat Zia Hero

Rohingya Women Leading the World Stage

Today, a new generation of Rohingya women is dismantling the military’s narrative of exclusion across law, diplomacy, culture, education, and medicine.

Razia Sultana, a lawyer and founder of the Rohingya Women Welfare Society, transformed survivor testimonies into legal dossiers. Her documentation of mass rape helped establish the international recognition of crimes against humanity. In 2019, she received the International Women of Courage Award.

Razia frames her work not as charity, but as a global necessity: “I am doing this for every place where rape is a weapon of war.”

Wai Wai Nu, emerging from her seven-year imprisonment, works as a bridge-builder through the Women’s Peace Network. Her work has been recognised by BBC 100 Women and TIME’s Next Generation Leaders. She challenges the international community to move beyond passive sympathy.

Addressing the UN, Wai Wai Nu declared: "You already have the evidence. You already have the power. What is missing is the political will."

Yasmin Ullah, a diaspora activist and poet based in Canada, has been instrumental in bridging the gap between the camps and the courts. In December 2019, Yasmin was formally invited to be part of the Rohingya representation by The Gambia's legal team at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during the provisional measures hearing. She sat inside the Great Hall of Justice, translating for survivors and serving as a visible symbol of Rohingya presence against the Myanmar state. Today, as the case opens its merits phase in 2026, she serves as the Executive Director of the Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN), coordinating civil society support for the witnesses testifying in The Hague.

Noor Azizah, an educator in Australia, represents the future. As the NSW Young Woman of the Year 2024, she works to empower girls through education and sports.

She reframes refugees not as beneficiaries, but as active agents: "Refugees are not passive recipients of peace – we are architects of it. We carry memory as resistance, and we turn survival into leadership."

Jaitun Ara, a teacher, creates safe spaces for children to learn and dream. © Sahat Zia Hero

Dr. Ambia Parveen, Vice-Chair of the European Rohingya Council, brings a critical eye to the movement itself. Based in Germany, she advocates for a united political front and has the courage to critique internal fragmentation, warning that the diaspora must not dominate the landscape at the expense of those "facing daily risks" in the camps.

Lucky Karim, a Rohingya refugee leader resettled in the United States in 2022, challenges humanitarian aid models that treat refugees as passive recipients. Displaced from northern Rakhine State during the 2017 genocide, she turned survival into strategy. As founder of Refugee Women for Peace and Justice, the first Rohingya refugee-led non-profit registered in both the United States and Bangladesh, she advances girls’ education, women’s leadership, and protection from gender-based violence.

Her position is direct and unsentimental: “Work with us, not just for us. Give us a chance and see what we can do.”

Kurshida, an embroidery artist lead sees here embroidery work that depicts the Hope of Rohingya which is displayed at the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre (RCMC) in the Refugee Camp at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. © Sahat Zia Hero

Hafsar Tameezuddin, is a prominent Rohingya human rights defender, activist, and humanitarian, known for advocating for refugees, gender equality, statelessness, and LGBTQI rights, particularly for the Rohingya community facing persecution in Myanmar. Based in New Zealand, she is involved with networks like the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), focusing on education, protection, and justice, and often share their personal experiences as a stateless person to highlight systemic issues. She is very much looking forward to making positive changes for the refugees and stateless people within her capacity together with the individuals and agencies who work for the same causes.

Women in Charge, Women Who Change

Rohingya women are not passive victims of history. They are leaders, educators, artists, advocates, and protectors of their community’s future. From the parliament of 1951 to the prison cells of Insein, and from the refugee camps of Bangladesh to the International Court of Justice, they have forged an unbroken chain of resistance.

Their leadership lights the path toward dignity, justice, and freedom, proving that while a regime can burn a village, it cannot burn the will of the women who hold the community together.