TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese group is calling for the donation of women’s bras to be used as a weapon against the military crackdown on civilians in Myanmar.

Seeing Taiwan Girls, a Facebook group committed to helping disadvantaged women in the Pacific region through the donations of secondhand underwear, launched a campaign on March 10 that aims to collect 5,000 bras for protesters in Myanmar.

The Southeast Asian country has been plunged into violence and riots amid the ruling junta’s brutal suppression of dissent since it carried out a coup on Feb. 1. An uprising has ensued, with some making use of local superstitions as a tactic against the police and military forces.

Streets in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, have been dotted with clotheslines of longyis — a sarong-like clothes item — used as barricades. According to Burmese superstition, walking under women’s undergarments and long skirts is believed to sap men’s power and bring misfortune, which means the advance of the security forces is slowed when they encounter such roadblocks.

The junta declared martial law in parts of Yangon on Sunday (March 14), which saw 38 killed in the clampdown's deadliest day yet.

Following arson attacks at Chinese factories in the Yangon suburb of Hlaingthaya, Taiwan’s representative office in Myanmar advised Taiwanese companies to fly the nation’s flag to keep safe. A Taiwanese company was caught up in the riot, but no one was injured, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chinese companies have been targeted in the riots, as the Chinese government is seen as supporting the junta. Many Chinese workers were reportedly injured in the incident.