Gender-based violence and war: the impact of armed conflicts on women and girls

Rape, sexual slavery, displacement and lack of access to education are among the many consequences women and girls suffer in the context of war. Some cases have led courts to treat these abuses not as collateral damage but as systematic plans.

With armed conflicts around the world at record levels, the international community remains particularly concerned about the situation of women and girls in each territory. Recent figures from human rights organizations have warned about the brutal consequences of how wars particularly affect the integrity of women. It is a debate in which world peace and the fight against gender-based violence demand answers in equal measure. 

According to recent United Nations data, some 185 armed conflicts took place around the world in 2024, in connection with which 4,600 cases of gender-based violence were recorded. This includes attacks involving sexual violence and practices related to acts of war such as torture, terror and harassment. This figure represents an increase of more than 85% since 2022 in violence against women in humanitarian crisis settings.

Women must also be taken into account as participants in the armed social actors involved in these conflicts. Amnesty International has referred to the composition of the FARC in Colombia, 40% of whose members were women. The same applies to the so-called Women’s Protection Units in Kurdistan, made up of some 30,000 women, whose participation was key in the fight against the so-called Islamic State. 

Meanwhile, the effects of these conflicts affect not only adult women but also girls. According to UN data, girls in areas of armed conflict are 90% more likely than boys to be prevented from accessing education. Added to this is the way these conflicts fuel the emergence of problems such as the exploitation of girls for slave labor and trafficking for sexual purposes, among others.

Women as the “spoils of war”

Hipatía Parodi, a research fellow at the Instituto de Investigación Sobre Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad (Institute for Research on Law, Justice and Society, Idejus, CONICET-UNC), has addressed the issue and its link to sexual violence not as “collateral damage” but as a practice inherent to war. Taking as an example the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, when some 250,000 women were raped and mutilated in 100 days, Parodi speaks of “planned and systematic” violence against women. As a result of those rapes, 5,000 babies were born, so the impact was intergenerational. Also drawing on that example, the expert even spoke of a “biological weapon,” since sexual violence was used to spread HIV among the population. 

Regarding this episode, the expert explains, international justice set a key precedent. In the case of Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal recognized rape as an “act of genocide,” establishing jurisprudence at the intersection of machismo, violence and acts of war. 

Amnesty International has also cited the example of the genocide committed against the Yazidi community by the aforementioned Islamic State group. It took place in 2014 in northern Iraq, and its crimes included, in addition to killings and torture, multiple cases of rape and the enslavement of women.  

AI also recalled the precedent of the Eritrean Defense Forces in Ethiopia, accused of involvement in acts of sexual violence, rape, slavery and other abuses. Many of the victims only received assistance after the forces withdrew from the area in January 2023. 

Warning from international organizations

Concerns also loom over how governments and multilateral organizations have addressed the problem with respect to war and women and girls. A report released in September of this year by the United Nations Secretariat on “women, peace and security” warned that, of global military spending of 2.7 trillion dollars in 2024, only 0.4% was directed to organizations assisting women in crisis zones.   

The UN has also stated that, although great progress has been made in recent decades, women continue to be largely excluded as participants in peace processes. According to 2024 figures, women account for barely 7% of peace negotiators in armed crises. This is significant considering that the international body, through the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, has recommended reaching the goal of parity between men and women in decision-making.

Meanwhile, in October 2020, the UN Human Rights Council established through a resolution that the role of women is fundamental in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. It also highlighted the need for their “full, effective and equal” participation in decision-making.  

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia