Shields made by anti-coup activists and used on the frontlines of protests. They featured the image of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to discourage security forces from attacking protesters. Photo by author. This edited article originally appeared on the blog of a Global Voices contributor who doesn't wish to be identified. The death toll of Myanmar's protesters had already reached more than 217 by Wednesday, March 17 as the military ramped up its violent crackdown on the anti-coup resistance. The Myanmar military, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, staged a coup on February 1 and replaced the civilian government with a “military council,” having accused elected leaders of the National League for Democracy of committing massive fraud in the November 2020 election. The military has been conducting nightly raids and arbitrary arrests. Many people have died during these detentions from beatings and torture—acts of terror intended to instil fear. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there were 1,873 confirmed political prisoners as of March 14. Despite the intensified violence unleashed by security forces in recent weeks, young pro-democracy protesters continued to show no signs of fear or slowing down their peaceful protests across the country. They even came up with different physical and psychological defence strategies to deter the riot police. In Yangon, people set up protest stations in their own neighbourhoods with makeshift defence barriers, rather than going to a massive gathering point as protesters had done in February. The barriers, made of local resources such as sandbags, large trash bins, concrete blocks, bricks and even large PVC pipes, were meant to slow down the soldiers while protesters retreated to safety. Yangon – 40th day of protests on March 13 Ongoing protests in Hlaing and Kamayut Townships on March 13.#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/y3y6rp0XyX — ElevenMyanmar (@ElevenMyanmar) March 13, 2021 Frontline protectors, mainly local youths, are often the first line of defence. This is a dangerous spot since their DIY shields, made of plastic, wood, or iron from recycled barrels, do not protect them from live ammunition. Wearing DIY vests and construction hats, they risk their lives to buy some time for other protesters to escape before the arrival of police and military forces. The riot police are mostly soldiers dressed in police uniforms. Many frontline protesters were violently beaten [Warning: VIOLENT IMAGERY] or tortured [GRAPHIC IMAGERY] during detention. Tear gas bombs are defused by frontline protesters by using wet blankets and water bags that have been prepared by residents of the neighbourhood. They also use improvised gas masks, goggles, and other protective gear. Young protesters showing defiance everywhere in Yangon. It’s clear that the fear tactics of the terrorist junta have failed to intimidate the young people, who show relentless determination to resist the military rule. Photos: Kamayut Media pic.twitter.com/si7lGjVIJ4 — Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) March 4, 2021 Protesters have been placing pictures of Min Aung Hlaing on the streets or on the ground in front of defence barriers based on the belief that soldiers stepping on the face of their leader could be accused of showing disrespect. This tactic aims to slow down the soldiers because they would have to remove the pictures first before attacking protesters. Some protesters put pictures of the general on their shields hoping that soldiers would not shoot directly into the face of their leader. The tactic worked for a few days as soldiers tediously removed images of the general before advancing toward the protesters. As more crackdowns happened, the tactic has become less effective as riot police ignored the images. The footage of a soldier deliberately goose-stepping on the general's face has become viral. In Myaung Mya and other cities people placed pictures of the general on tombs as a way to demoralize the coup leader. ထဘီခံတပ် (“Hta-main-khan-tat”), which means “women’s sarong defence line,” draws from the superstition that male soldiers who go under a clothesline used for women’s clothes, particularly women’s sarongs (ထဘီ/hta-main) and underwear, would fall in battle. The idea comes from the deep-rooted misogyny within Myanmar's military that regards women or women’s bodies as being inferior or impure. Myanmar's military subscribes to the patriarchal superstition that women's sarongs impair the virtue of men (ဘုန်း or “Hpone”), and thus, soldiers will lose protection in battle. Indeed, soldiers stopped and tried to remove the clotheslines of women’s sarongs on the streets before they moved forward.