committed torture and other brutalities against Rohingya who have returned to Myanmar.37 Many of them were unjustly sentenced to two to five years in arbitrary detention.38 The detainees cannot be fully guaranteed access to legal and justice services, which has been further compromised by the lack of due process and rule of law since the military’s attempted coup. Sexual and gender-based violence Throughout their maritime escape, and even beyond it, Rohingya women and girls are overwhelmingly exposed to sexual and gender-based violence. Reports have emerged of them, especially young women, being raped and gang raped by their traffickers and crew members on boats to the point that many of them were provided “‘pills to prevent pregnancy’.”39 Women and girls who have been permitted disembarkation on land, including intermediary trafficking camps in Thailand, continue to risk rape and other forms of sexual violence, now by different men.40 As a part of their journey to countries including Malaysia, they also risk being sold by their traffickers or brokers into forced marriages – for Rohingya girls, child marriages – where they face sexual violence from their buyers.41 The Rohingya women and girls are then denied paths to fully prosecute their violators for their abuses. This is especially the case for those who are subjected to sexual violence at sea. Regional standards such as soft law instruments do not address the specific risks and experience of sexual violence at sea or how its victims and survivors can access justice for such violations upon their respective disembarkations.42 In such an environment, local law enforcement and other related authorities cannot be relied upon to take on cases involving individuals without proper documentation or legal status (especially if their perpetrators are citizens of their country); consequently, they often resort to dismissing these Rohingya and indefinitely detaining them.43 At the same time, these women and girls also face stigma, prejudice, and backlash from their community members for being subjected to sexual “Myanmar’s navy arrests over 200 Rohingya fleeing Rakhine,” Radio Free Asia, November 3, 2023, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/rohingya-arrests-11032023065208.html. 37 “Myanmar: Security Forces Torture Rohingya Returnees: Refugees Arrested, Mistreated as Accused Militants,” Human Rights Watch, August 21, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/21/myanmar-security-forces-torture-rohingya-returnees; “Rohingya Update: The arbitrary arrest and detention of Rohingya since the attempted coup,” Women’s Peace Network, March 2, 2022, https://mcusercontent.com/6819ae24e30bd9a9db0322d69/files/2a79f5e9-4d82-bf0a-7c7e-702bc869a5c2/Briefer _on_Arbitrary_Arrest_Detention.pdf. 38 “Rohingya Update: The arbitrary arrest and detention of Rohingya since the attempted coup.” 39 Yacoub, Errington, Nu, and Robinson, “Rights Adrift: Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women on the Andaman Sea.” 40 Ibid. 41 “Students in Indonesia protest the growing numbers of Rohingya refugees in Aceh province,” The Associated Press, December 28, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-myanmar-rohingya-refugees-3ab43261f903de7751ae0b188c45f7ee. 42 Yacoub, Errington, Nu, and Robinson, “Rights Adrift: Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women on the Andaman Sea.” 43 Ibid.; Sarah Aziz, “Rohingya women trafficked to India on promises of ‘a good life’ face threat of indefinite detention,” South China Morning Post, January 23, 2024, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3249451/rohingya-women-trafficked-india-promises-good-life-face -threat-indefinite-detention?firstTimeRegister=true. 10