Recommitment, accountability and resourcing needed to end gender-based violence in conflict

In 2023, four out of 10 civilians killed in armed conflicts were women, double the proportion compared with 2022. The number of UN verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence was 50 per cent higher than the year before, and the number of girls affected by grave violations in situations of armed conflict increased by 35 per cent.

These stark figures were highlighted in a report issued by the UN Secretary-General this year on women and peace and security. This increase in prevalence and forms of gender-based violence (GBV) faced by women and girls in conflict settings has led this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women (25 November to 10 December) to focus on this issue.

Gender-related concerns in conflict

Gender-based violence intensifies in conflict zones, where displacement, instability and destruction of facilities expose women and girls to higher levels of violence, exploitation and abuse. Sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence continue to be deliberately used as tactical weapons in war, aiming to terrorise and control populations.

“Conflict-related sexual violence is a violation of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law,” said Hannah Wu, Chief of the Women’s Rights and Gender Section at UN Human Rights. “However, its trivialization in all countries and at all times has contributed to cementing a sense of impunity for such violence in conflict settings.”

Women and girls are not all affected in the same way during conflicts and their situation is affected by intersecting forms of discrimination. For countless survivors forced to leave their country or flee their home, violence does not end but worsens on their migration or displacement path. It also impacts them within camps, where they should be entitled to seek protection, health care and access to services.

Further, LBTI women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence in conflict settings due to compounded discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, often exposing them to more targeted violence, exclusion from support services and unabashed stigmatisation.

Gender-based violence serves as a critical early-warning indicator for conflict, highlighting the need for preventive systems to address risks across all forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, verbal, economic and online and offline abuse, in both the public and private spheres. In June 2024, UN Member States adopted gender-responsive policies to curb the role of small arms in exacerbating gender-based violence.

“Collaborating with women’s groups is essential to identify risks, conduct hotspot analyses, and implement preventive measures against conflict-related sexual violence,” Wu stressed. ”And integrating gender considerations into arms control and resource allocation strengthens global efforts to promote equality, peace, and security for all.”

The lack of delivery of essential services to the population experienced during conflict and situations of strife and instability can have a disproportionate impact on  women and girls, especially those in marginalized situations, often building on pre-existing situations of discrimination.

Access to essential services such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health services can be disrupted, with women and girls being at a greater risk of unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, maternal mortality and morbidity, severe sexual and reproductive injuries and contracting sexually transmitted infections, including because of conflict-related sexual violence.

“In conflict settings, where rape is used as a weapon of war, it is crucial that women and girls have access to prophylactic treatment, emergency contraception and abortion care. Women and girls must have autonomy, agency and be able to make decisions about their own bodies,” Wu said. “Denial of access to abortion in cases of sexual violence violates women’s and girls’ human rights. Let’s be clear that inaccessibility of quality safe abortion care violates a range of human rights.”

Accountability and women’s participation

At the fourth World Conference on Women and following the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action almost 30 years ago, as well as numerous other women’s conferences since, the global community committed to ensuring women’s participation in conflict prevention, resolution and recovery, and to upholding their rights during war. However, in recent years, the annual reports of the UN Secretary General on women and peace and security have warned of stagnation and regression across key indicators on women and peace and security.

One key factor undermining progress is the escalating backlash against women’s human rights and gender equality. Women’s human rights defenders and civil society organizations on the frontlines of crises are too often under attack themselves.

“Women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in political and public life and at all levels of decision-making, including in peace processes, is our path to the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence in conflict settings,” Wu said.

She further explained that, due to increased geopolitical divisions, critical tools used to advance the women and peace and security agenda, such as peace negotiations, transitional justice, peacekeeping and special political missions, have more recently seen reduced levels of support, which has lessened their effectiveness. Wu pointed out that less than one per cent of humanitarian funding worldwide is allocated to programmes of prevention and response to gender-based violence.

“Securing dedicated funding for the implementation of national action plans on women, peace and security by ensuring that regional organisations, countries and territories allocate specific resources to support the agenda is essential to achieving lasting change, driving peace processes and advancing gender equality,” she said.

Wu also pointed out that accountability processes should support a survivor-centred approach, and respect survivors’ rights, dignity and agency. Survivor-centred, trauma-informed responses enable survivors to safely share their experiences and reclaim autonomy over their lives, she explained further, adding that those closest to conflict understand the challenges and have crafted innovative, community-led solutions that demand broader support and replication.

“Sexual and other forms of gender-based violence in conflict settings is a severe violation of human rights, with lasting impacts on survivors, families and communities for generations. Without accountability mechanisms, violence continues with impunity, leaving survivors without protection and justice and communities without closure,” Wu said. “It is everyone's responsibility to invoke States’ human rights obligations to prevent such violence and to prosecute its perpetrators.”