The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA

Gender determines social roles and subsequent interactions between
women and men. It is through these roles that women and men perceive their
social identities and relationships, among each other and in their communities.
<strong>The</strong>se implied social placements have created a pattern <strong>of</strong> dominance and
subordination, <strong>of</strong>ten placing men in control and women in <strong>of</strong>ten submissive,
supportive roles. <strong>Armed</strong> conflict situations, in particular, are not gender neutral for
a variety <strong>of</strong> reasons. Women and men experience conflicts differently, differ in
access to resources and decision-making efforts throughout armed conflict
phases, and have different roles in peace-building and violence reduction, as well
as different situational needs, interests and peace-building strategies.
<strong>Conflict</strong> and displacement cause demographic shifts that have serious
ramifications that result in: decreased male population and subsequent structural
changes <strong>of</strong> households; decreased fertility and increased infant mortality; civilian
dispersion and reallocations; and increased rural-to-urban migration. Healthrelated
consequences for socio-economic sectors include: strains on and
destruction <strong>of</strong> health-care facilities and infrastructures; reallocation <strong>of</strong> funds from
public health to defence purposes; increased private health-sector coverage and
subsequent costs; and negative health indicators related to poverty, loss <strong>of</strong>
livelihood, displacement and poor conditions <strong>of</strong> refugee camps.
Violence against women increases during conflict situations. Mass rape
has <strong>of</strong>ten been used as a war tactic to erode individual relations and community
and family structures. Increased psychological trauma, unwanted pregnancies
from rape and high-risk abortion practices severely impact women’s reproductive
health. Due to lack <strong>of</strong> funds, Governments and social policies have failed to
address the ramifications <strong>of</strong> poor planning, management and pre-existing cultural
norms. Finally, economic sectors suffer from drained community resources,
decreased domestic industries and increased black market activity, as well as
increased unemployment, impoverishment and migration. Again, these impacts
<strong>of</strong> conflict disproportionately affect women, whose responsibilities and
susceptibilities as caretakers increase domestically and abroad. As such, it is
imperative to focus on women in all training initiatives.
In the last decade, many women’s NGOs have emerged locally and
internationally to respond to post-conflict settings. <strong>The</strong>y have common goals;
however, they have diverse structures and strategies to achieve these goals.
<strong>The</strong>se include: fostering women’s empowerment; applying and sustaining
democratic practice efforts; initiating inter-ethnic trust in community projects;
establishing coalitions and partnerships between civil society groups; becoming
involved in reproductive health activities; fostering new political venues for
women’s involvement; utilizing media for health-promotion programmes;
supporting NGO networks and collaborations; strengthening newly established
women’s grass-roots organizations; and improving communication among all
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