Prevalence of Violence Against Women in War and Armed Conflict

Violence against women perpetrated in situations of armed conflict is not a new occurrence. Rape, for example, has occurred as a part of post-war looting since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. However, research suggests that there has recently been a vast increase in the prevalence of targeted violence against women during and after armed conflict, as well as a change in the type of and motivation for such violence. Current internal armed conflicts, which continue to occur all over the world, present evidence that civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, are being systematically targeted as a tactic of warfare.

Women experience violence, torture and death during war and conflict differently than men.  The Beijing Platform for Action, a product of the Fourth World Conference of Women (1995), states that, “while entire communities suffer the consequences of armed conflict and terrorism, women and girls are particularly affected because of their status in society and their sex.”  Women in armed conflict situations experience rape, forced impregnation, trafficking, forced labor, sexual slavery, forced marriage, direct killing, and increased domestic violence.  These acts are both physically and psychologically devastating for the women who experience them. Additionally, these acts severely disrupt communities and families long after an armed conflict ends.

Rape and Sexual Violence

Sexual violence against women has always been prevalent during armed conflict, but it has only recently  begun to be documented. Today, the most widely reported problem for women during armed conflict is sexual violence—it has been reported in nearly every armed conflict in the world. For example:

·         An estimated 200,000 women were raped in Bangladesh during the conflict there in 1971. From: “Ending Violence Against Women – From Words to Action,” United Nations Secretary General Report, 2006. 

·         In Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993, the Zenica Centre for the Registration of War and Genocide Crime documented 40,000 accounts of wartime rape (actual incidence is usually significantly higher than reported numbers). From: “Broken Bodies Broken Dreams – Violence against Women Exposed,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2005.

·         The estimated number of women raped during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is 250,000 to 500,000. From: “Ending Violence Against Women – From Words to Action,” United Nations Secretary General Report, 2006. 

·         Within one year, from 1998 to 1999, it was estimated that between 23,200 and 45,600 Kosovo Albanians were raped. From: “Broken Bodies Broken Dreams – Violence against Women Exposed,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2005.

·         During the eight years of civil war in Sierra Leone, it is estimated that 214,000 to 257,000 women and girls experienced sexual violence during the fighting or in displacement camps. From: “War Related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Assessment,” Physicians for Human Rights, 2002.

·         In a single province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Kivu, 14,000 women were raped in 2005 and 13,000 were raped in 2006. In 2008, the UN reported that forty women a day were being raped in South Kivu. From: “Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk,” A/HRC/7/6/Add.4, 28 February 2008; and “Sexual Violence against Women and Children in Armed Conflict,” 2008 Parliamentary Meeting at the United Nations, New York, 20-21 November 2008.

Sexual violence can take many different forms during armed conflict, but most striking is the extreme brutality experienced by women. Assaults include forced vaginal, oral or anal sex, rape by several men (‘gang rape’), vaginal penetration with guns, knives or other foreign objects, rape in front of husbands and children or in public places, mutilation of genitals, and beating, cutting or penetration of pregnant women in order to cause miscarriage. Family members are forced to rape their daughters, mothers or sisters. Women are kidnapped and detained as sex slaves for armed forces.  Women are forcibly impregnated and detained until full term.  Women are assaulted by armed forces during direct conflict or when they are working in their fields or traveling the roads.  Women are sexually assaulted by soldiers, by community members and even peacekeepers. Rape and sexual assault is common in displacement camps and even when women return to their communities after the conflict has ended.  From: “Broken Bodies Broken Dreams – Violence against Women Exposed,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2005; Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; and Ward, Jeanne and Marsh, Mendy, “Sexual Violence against WOMEN AND Girls in War and Its Aftermath – Realities, Responses, and Required Resources,” A Briefing Paper for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond, United Nations Population Fund, June 2006.

Sexual violence in armed conflict is motivated by several things. Originally, theories of wartime sexual violence centered around armed forces committing rape as a form of looting the “spoils of war”, or viewed rape as random individual acts committed due to a breakdown in the rule of law. These motivations do exist in today’s armed conflict; however, recent research has determined that sexual violence has also been systematically used by armed forces as a tactic of war. Women and girls are raped and assaulted as a means to terrorize and destabilize enemy populations.  Sexual violence is used to end resistance to armed groups or to punish support for enemy forces. In cultures where marriage to a woman is bought through a dowry, or where women generally have little control over their sexuality and reproductive capabilities, sexual violence is considered an effective attack on the men to whom the woman “belongs.” The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women explained this phenomenon in a report on the topic of Armed Conflict, Racism and Rape:

“Since women’s sexuality is seen as being under the protection of the men of the community, its defilement is an act of domination asserting power over the males of the community or group that is under attack…Women are particular targets as they are often regarded both as representing the symbolic honour of the culture and being the genetic gatekeepers to the community.” From: “World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,” Review of Reports, Studies and Other Documentation for the Preparatory Committee and the World Conference, United Nations General Assembly, A/CONF.189/PC.3/5, 27 July 2001.

Some of the most brutal and widespread sexual violence campaigns have been undertaken as part of ethnic cleansing efforts or genocide.  In these cases, women are forcibly sterilized, women are raped and forced to carry a soldier’s child in order to destroy ethnic purity and heritage, and pregnant women are attacked in order to force a miscarriage.  Oftentimes, rape leads to a breakdown in the family. In certain communities, because of shame or fear of disease, husbands refuse to accept wives who have been raped. Young girls that have been raped are deemed unmarriageable.  In some areas, the HIV infection rate is so high among armed groups that rape is used to systematically infect whole communities with the deadly disease.  From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; Ward, Jeanne and Marsh, Mendy, “Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in War and Its Aftermath – Realities, Responses, and Required Resources,” A Briefing Paper for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond, United Nations Population Fund, June 2006; “Broken Bodies Broken Dreams – Violence against Women Exposed,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2005.

As with all gender-based violence, wartime rape is seen as a reflection of gender inequalities that exist within a society. In 2005 Amnesty International published a Fact Sheet on Rape as a Tool of War.  After reviewing the proliferation of sexual violence in Sudan, Uganda and Sierra Leone, the organization made the following statement and challenge to national governments:

“Rape is not an accident of war, or an incidental adjunct to armed conflict. Its widespread use in times of conflict reflects the unique terror it holds for women, the unique power it gives the rapist over his victim, and the unique contempt it displays for its victims. The use of rape in conflict reflects the inequalities women face in their everyday lives in peacetime. Until governments take responsibility for their obligations to ensure equality, and end discrimination against women, rape will continue to be a favored weapon of the aggressor.” From: “Rape as a Tool of War: A Fact Sheet,” Amnesty International, 25 August 2005.

While awareness of the problem of wartime sexual violence is increasing, very few perpetrators are prosecuted as violence against women is often seen as a secondary concern. Because of this impunity and the shame associated with rape, women often do not report the incident. Lack of reporting decreases women’s access to services and hides the full extent of the violence.

Human Trafficking
Trafficking in persons is a tremendous problem worldwide and in many cases, is intricately related to armed conflict. The International Organization for Migration estimates that as many as 2 million women are trafficked globally, and that trafficking is a $5-7 billion industry annually. From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002. Trafficking becomes more prevalent during armed conflict due to a breakdown in border controls and general security. Normal policing and prosecution of trafficking crimes is typically interrupted during armed conflict, and criminal networks trading in arms, drugs, and human beings increase. Armed conflict brings high levels of violence and poverty, and some women may be lured into leaving their homes by false promises of safety or employment. The presence of the international community, either armed groups or peacekeeping forces, increases both the transport opportunities and the number of well-funded buyers. The sheer numbers of persons living in displacement camps also increase the risk of trafficking. From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; and Addressing the Needs of Women Affected by Armed Conflict, International Committee of the Red Cross, March 2004.

Women and girls are trafficked during armed conflict for a wide variety of purposes. Women are trafficked into situations of forced labor such as illegal factories or servicing wealthy families in destination countries. Women and girls are also often abducted by armed forces and forced to serve military groups in everything from cooking and cleaning to de-mining contested areas and participating in direct combat. Abduction by military groups nearly always involves repeated sexual assault. Often women and girls are kidnapped and detained by armed groups for the sole purpose of sexually servicing military personnel. Victims are forced to labor for forces during the day and are often raped by several different soldiers at night. Women are also commonly trafficked outside their country of origin into situations of forced prostitution. Trafficking of women and girls runs rampant long after an armed conflict ends, as many may still be living in displacement camps, Borders and policing remain unstable. Most trafficking victims refuse to testify against their captors because of fear of reprisal from their captors or from their community if they are returned home. From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; and Ward, Jeanne and Marsh, Mendy, “Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in War and Its Aftermath – Realities, Responses, and Required Resources,” A Briefing Paper for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond, United Nations Population Fund, June 2006.

The situation in Kosovo at the end of 1990’s serves as a strong example of how trafficking increases during conflict and post-conflict situations. At the end of the war in 1999, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) identified 18 locations, primarily bars and cafes, where organized prostitution occurred involving women trafficked locally and from Moldova, Bulgaria and the Ukraine, primarily through Serbia. It was in 1999 that 40,000 peacekeeping forces and several thousand NGO activists entered Kosovo to assist with security and humanitarian needs. The influx of internationals, Kosovo’s close proximity to source countries and established trafficking routes, the operation of organized crime rings, and a weakened police and justice system all contributed to an exponential increase in trafficking during the post-conflict period.  By the beginning of 2004, the number of establishments known to be participating in organized prostitution had risen from 18 to 200, the majority of which served internationals. From:  “So Does it Mean That We Have the Rights?”: Protecting the Human Rights of Women and Girls Trafficked for Forced Prostitution into Kosovo, Amnesty International, 5 May 2004.

There have been many other cases of increased wartime and post-conflict trafficking in the past decade.  For example, the U.S. State Department reports that thousands of Dinka women and girls were abducted by neighboring tribes during the civil war in Sudan, and that civilians were systematically targeted for abduction by government forces or allied groups.  Women and girls were kidnapped for commercial or private sex work as well as forced domestic and agricultural labor. Sudan continues to be a source, transit and destination county for trafficked individuals. From: “Trafficking in Persons Report – Sudan,” United States State Department, 2010. In Colombia, a civil war that has raged for decades has led to increased trafficking of women and girls.  A Colombian anti-trafficking NGO, Fundacion Esperanza, estimates that up to 50,000 women are trafficked out of Colombia every year. From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), women and girls are kidnapped to serve in brothels in tents or huts.  Women and girls are also abducted for domestic servitude inside DRC and for commercial sex trade in neighboring African countries and Europe. Recruitment and forced induction of child soldiers, many of whom are girls, also continues to be common in the conflict in DRC. From: “Trafficking in Persons Report – Congo,” United States State Department, 2010.

Direct Killing
Increasingly, women are becoming members of armed factions, and as such they are increasingly killed as a part of military casualties during combat. However, often civilian women and girls are killed in retaliation for perceived or actual support for the enemy through intelligence-gathering or supplying food, shelter, or medical care. There is also deliberate killing of civilian women during armed conflict either because they occupy positions of power or because they are associated with or married to men who are targeted for political reasons. Civilian women are also killed in cases where they may be used as human shields or forced to de-mine an area for an armed group. From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; and Women Facing War: An ICRC Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women, International Committee of the Red Cross, 2001.

In civil war or ethnically-divided conflicts women are targeted to be killed for some of the same reasons that they are attacked through sexual violence.  Because of their reproductive capabilities women are killed in an effort to destroy a population’s chances of continued heritage. In these instances, pregnant women are often the target of brutal deaths, having their stomachs slit open or fetus torn from their wombs.  From: Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002; and Ward, Jeanne and Marsh, Mendy, “Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in War and Its Aftermath – Realities, Responses, and Required Resources,” A Briefing Paper for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond, United Nations Population Fund, June 2006.

 
Forced Marriage
In situations of armed conflict, some women are forced into de facto situations of forced marriage. Women and girls are abducted by military personnel and detained for domestic servitude and forced sexual services. For example, in Sierra Leone, “bush wives” were not only abducted and raped, but also forced to bear children, clean, cook and carry out other tasks. Women who recount their experiences with their abductors report rampant drug abuse, including cocaine. One woman, who lived two years as the “wife” of a rebel, described how she was given pills to take every day to keep her complacent. Often, these victims were forced to commit atrocities against other civilians. Another woman, kidnapped and separated from her eight-month old child, was forced to live with a rebel soldier for over a year; she was forced to loot villages, as well. A young girl, also kidnapped and forced to become a bush wife, was ordered to cut off the hands of captured villagers and watch brutal killings. Although many women and girls sought to escape their captors, some women chose to stay, fearing rejection should they return home.  Many women who became pregnant from the rape of their captors also felt obligated to remain.  From: “War Related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Assessment,” Physicians for Human Rights, 2002.

 
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a widespread problem for women around the world, but it is exacerbated during and after armed conflict. Local NGOs that treat victims of abuse report much higher rates of women seeking treatment after armed conflicts. The reasons for increased domestic violence during and after conflict vary. Experts believe that the increased availability of weapons and the increased amount of stress due to lack of employment or shelter during armed conflict contribute to domestic violence. They also believe that domestic violence levels increase after conflict because male family members may have experienced violence or abuse during conflict, and they react more violently to their family upon return. Domestic violence often increases sharply in displacement camps as the threat of violence and the lack of adequate food and shelter increases family tensions. From: Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, “Women, War and Peace: An Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peacebuilding,” UNIFEM, (2002); “Addressing the Needs of Women Affected by Armed Conflict”, International Committee of the Red Cross, (2004), and Ward,Jeanne, “If Not Now, When?: Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-Conflict Settings,” Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium (2002).

Studies conducted in Cambodia in the mid-1990s suggested that up to 75% of all women had experienced domestic violence, often by men who kept weapons obtained during the war. Women from the occupied Palestinian territories have reported that some men were using the same interrogation tactics that they experienced while detained by Israelis against their wives. In 2002, within six weeks, four U.S. Special Forces soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina murdered their wives. Three of the soldiers had just returned from active duty in Afghanistan. Commentators on the causes of this phenomena point not only to the trauma and violence that is experienced by soldiers in war, but also to the culture of violence and militarized masculinity experienced as a soldier. From: Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, “Women, War and Peace: An Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peacebuilding,” UNIFEM, (2002).

Compiled From:

Addressing the Needs of Women Affected by Armed Conflict, International Committee of the Red Cross, March 2004.

“Broken Bodies Broken Dreams – Violence against Women Exposed,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2005.

“Ending Violence Against Women – From Words to Action,” United Nations Secretary General Report, 2006.

“Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk,” A/HRC/7/6/Add.4, 28 February 2008.

“Rape as a Tool of War: A Fact Sheet,” Amnesty International, 25 August 2005.

Rehn, Elisabeth and Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen, “Women, War and Peace – The Independent Experts’ Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women’s Role in Peace-building,” United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2002.

“Sexual Violence against Women and Children in Armed Conflict,” 2008 Parliamentary Meeting at the United Nations, New York, 20-21 November 2008.

“So Does it Mean That We Have the Rights?”: Protecting the Human Rights of Women and Girls Trafficked for Forced Prostitution into Kosovo, Amnesty International, 5 May 2004.

“Trafficking in Persons Report – Congo,” United States State Department, 2010.

“Trafficking in Persons Report – Sudan,” United States State Department, 2010.

“War Related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Assessment,” Physicians for Human Rights, 2002.

Ward, Jeanne, “If Not Now, When?: Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-Conflict Settings,” Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium (2002).

Ward, Jeanne and Marsh, Mendy, “Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in War and Its Aftermath – Realities, Responses, and Required Resources,” A Briefing Paper for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond, United Nations Population Fund, June 2006.

Women Facing War: An ICRC Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women, International Committee of the Red Cross, 2001.

“World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,” Review of Reports, Studies and Other Documentation for the Preparatory Committee and the World Conference, United Nations General Assembly, A/CONF.189/PC.3/5, 27 July 2001.