Introduction

Women and War
(UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

Women and girls are vulnerable to sexual violence, trafficking and mutilation, whether at home, in flight or in camps for displaced populations. The trauma for female victims of violence continues even when the conflict is over, as they are frequently shunned, ostracized and further stigmatized. However, recent trends driven by leading women scholars and activists tend to emphasize women's strengths not their vulnerability. Women play a prominent role in rebuilding war-torn societies and social resources. Women community leaders facilitate mediation and reconciliation, and constitute a primary force of immediate economic activity that is still under-examined and underutilized. In Colombia, Cambodia, East Timor, Guatemala, Liberia, Mozambique, Somalia and many other places, women have set examples for building peace across clans, political affiliations and ethnicity. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, such as Burundi, Guatemala and South Africa, women have not been present in formal peace negotiations. "Women were not invited to participate in the Dayton talks, even though during the conflict 40 women's associations remained organized and active across ethnic lines." The role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and peace building needs to be recognized and utilized at the local, national and international levels.

In October 2000, the Security Council unanimously adopted its first resolution on women and peace and security. The Council called for the prosecution of crimes against women, increased protection of women and girls during war, and ensuring that more women participate in decision-making in conflict resolution and peace processes. The resolution requests a report by the Secretary-General, now under preparation, on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building, the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions.


Women, Peace and Security
UNIFEM

Women's protection in armed conflict and their centrality to conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace building have become of increasing concern to the international community. The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Women, Peace and Security in 2000. Yet the deliberate killing, rape, mutilation, forced displacement, abduction, trafficking and torture of women and girls continue unabated in contemporary armed conflicts. As soldiers, as refugees, as survivors of landmine incidents and sexual violence, women experience conflict differently than men.

Women and girls are among those most affected by the violence and economic instability associated with armed conflict. Whether at home, in flight or in camps for displaced people, women are threatened by rape, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, sexual humiliation and mutilation.


War and Armed Conflicts
Women's Human Rights net

There are more than thirty undeclared wars and internal conflicts taking place in the world at present. The impact of this situation on women, who are affected both as combatants and as civilians living in combat zones, is manifold. However, the stereotype of war as fought among soldiers in the battlefield is very far from the reality of today's wars and conflicts, which take place in the midst of civilian populations and inflict untold brutality and hardship on non-combatants. It is now estimated that 90 percent of war casualties are among ordinary civilians.

Women and girls form the majority of refugees and the internally displaced who are forced to flee conflict situations. They also become the sole heads of households in very difficult circumstances when their male family members are "disappeared," arrested, or killed. Further, because of their role as the primary caregivers in most societies, women and girls carry the burden of maintaining life and ensuring the immediate survival of other family members throughout the conflict and its aftermath. In doing so they face continued threats to their safety and security in the post-conflict phase, which is often marked by immense social upheaval, infrastructural devastation and anti-democratic political forces. Furthermore, because women are often seen as symbolizing the integrity and honor of the entire community, in times of conflict they are subjected to rape, sexual and physical abuse, and harassment at the hands of the "enemy" as a strategy of war. For the same reasons, women are also subjected to gender-specific constraints within their own communities and these controls are intensified in situations of war, conflict and displacement.

Recognition of gender-specific human rights violations in conflict situations demands that international laws, processes, and policy measures aimed at protecting civilians during conflicts and securing justice for victims of war atrocities take women's experiences into account. The inclusion of gender-based crimes in the mandate of International Criminal Court in 1997 is one example of how the international women's human rights movement has effectively organized in recent years to achieve this goal. At the same time, the profound impact of war and conflict on women's lives, as well as women's right to political equality, make it imperative that women are afforded key roles in conflict prevention, peace-building, reconciliation and the reconstruction of war-torn societies and communities.