Conflict Affected communities

• Women and War
• Children and War
• Refugees and Internally Displaced People
• Countries of focus
• The Human Impact

Women and War

Countless women and girls all over the world suffer the trauma of war - as widows or orphans, perhaps displaced from their homes, sometimes detained. They are often separated from loved ones and become victims of violence and intimidation.

For the most part they are civilians caught in the crossfire, and show astonishing resourcefulness and resilience in coping with the disintegration of their families, the loss of their home and their belongings and the destruction of their lives.

Women can also be fighters, and as such are due the same respect as men if wounded or captured. They are also bound by the same rules prohibiting illegal acts against other fighters or civilians.

International humanitarian law, which grants general protection to all war victims, regardless of gender, provides extensive specific protection for women in war. If these rules were better observed, the suffering faced by women in war would be greatly reduced.  More»

Posted February 1, 2008