Violence against women In situations of armed …

1 Violence against womenIn situations of armedconflict and displacementArmed conflict and uprootedness bring theirown distinct forms of Violence against womenwith them. These can include random acts ofsexual assault by both enemy and friendly forces, or mass rape as a deliberate strategyof forms of Violence resulting fromconflict/refugee situations Mass rape, military sexual slavery,forced prostitution, forced marriages andforced pregnancies Multiple rapes and gang rape (withmultiple perpetrators) and the rape ofyoung girls Sexual assault associated with violentphysical assault Resurgence of female genital mutilation,within the community under attack, as away to reinforce cultural identity women forced to offer sex for survival,or in exchange for food, shelter, or protection Increased Violence against women duringconflictThe general breakdown in law and orderwhich occurs during conflict and displacementleads to an increase in all forms of tensions of conflict, and the frustration,powerlessness and loss of traditional maleroles associated with displacement may bemanifested in an increased incidence ofdomestic Violence against women .

2 Alcoholabuse may also become more common andexacerbate the underlying acceptance of violenceagainst women which exists within manysocieties becomes more outwardly acceptablein conflict situations . It can, therefore, be seenas a continuum of the Violence that women aresubjected to in peacetime. The situation iscompounded by the polarization of genderroles which frequently occurs during armedconflict. An image of masculinity is sometimesformed which encourages aggressive andmisogynist behaviour. On the other hand, women may be idealized as the bearers of acultural identity and their bodies perceived as territory to be conquered. Troops may alsouse rape and other forms of Violence againstwomen to increase men s subjugation is most vulnerable?Some groups of women and girls areparticularly vulnerable in conflict anddisplacement situations .

3 These includetargeted ethnic groups, where there is anofficial or unofficial policy of using rape as aweapon of genocide. Unaccompanied womenor children, children in foster carearrangements, and lone female heads ofhouseholds are all frequent targets. Elderlywomen and those with physical or mentaldisabilities are also vulnerable, as are thosewomen who are held in detention and indetention-like situations includingconcentration consequencesBesides the many physical and psychologicalconsequences of Violence against women (see sheet on Health consequences), theimpact on the social health of a community isboth negative and widespread. Social bondsmay be broken as women isolate themselvesor are isolated by their families andcommunities.

4 A legacy of bitterness towardsthe perpetrators may make reconciliation andcommunity reconstruction particularly on health systemsIn situations of war, the existing healthservices are usually overstretched and at bestfunctioning at reduced levels. In addition, theyare expected to cope with a greatly increasednumber of injuries because of systems need training support toenable them to deal with such situations . Twouseful documents on how to support and helpvictims of Violence in conflict and displacementsituations have been produced by theInternational Federation of Red Cross andRed Crescent Societies and the UnitedNations High Commission for Refugees (seebelow).Sources:Sexual Violence against refugees, Guidelines onprevention and response. Geneva, United NationsHigh Commission for Refugees, S, Giller J.

5 Rape as a crime of war: a medicalperspective. Journal of the American MedicalAssociation, 1993, 270 with victims of organized Violence fromdifferent cultures. The International Federation of RedCross and Red Crescent Societies, A, Ugalde A. Towards an epidemiology of politicalviolence in the Third World. Social science andmedicine, 1989, 28(7) Health Organization July 1997 Research in Kingston, Jamaica, reportedthat 17% of a random sample of 452primary school girls, ages 13-14, hadexperienced attempted or completed rape,half before the age of a study of 1193 randomly selected ninthgrade students in Geneva, Switzerland,20% of girls and 3% of boys reportedexperiencing at least one incident ofsexual abuse involving physical against womenThe girl childThe earliest years of a person s life aresupposed to be a time of carefree exploration,growth and support.

6 For millions of girlsaround the world the reality is quite against the girl child includesphysical, psychological and sexual abuse,commercial sexual exploitation in pornogra-phy and prostitution, and harmful practicessuch as son preference and female abuse of childrenChild sexual abuse is an abuse of power thatencompasses many forms of sexual activitybetween a child or adolescent (most often agirl) and an older person, most often a man orolder boy known to the victim. The activity maybe physically forced, or accomplished thoughcoercive tactics such as offers of money forschool fees or threats of exposure. At times, itmay take the form of breach of trust in which anindividual, such as a religious leader, teacheror doctor, who has the confidence of the child,uses that trust to secure sexual have shown that between 36% and62% of all sexual assault victims are aged 15or less (see table in Rape and sexual assaultinformation sheet).

7 Research suggests thatthe sexual abuse of children is , sexual abuse occurring within thefamily, although most often perpetrated by afather, stepfather, grandfather, uncle, brotheror other male in a position of family trust, mayalso come from a female relative. As withsexual abuse, incest is accomplished byphysical force or by coercion. Incest takes onthe added psychological dimension of betrayalby a family member who is supposed to carefor and protect the general unwillingness to acknowledge theextent of child sexual abuse exists in manysocieties. Attempts to downplay the prevalenceand nature of child abuse often blame thevictim or the victims mother for the against the child include the ideathat the child invites the abuse or that sheimagines it. The mother may be blamed for causing the abuse by refusing to have sexwith the abuser, or for colluding by notrealising or reporting what was going is often focused on commercializedpaedophilia, which while important, distractsattention from the more widespread problemof incest and sexual exploitationThe commercial exploitation of childrenoccurs in many settings.

8 The problem includeschild prostitution and pornography, thetrafficking of children for sexual purposes, andbonded factors can conspire to push childreninto exploitative and abusive situations . Welldocumented cases show that families areoften deceived by the promise of jobopportunities for their children. Sometimes,girls are sent away from home to work andbecome subject to physical and sexual children may be at particular risk. Withno means of economic or social support, theymay be forced to rely on prostitution forsurvival. They also lack the basic protectionthat a home and family can offer, thus makingthem more vulnerable to violent attack on genital mutilation (FGM)Today, the number of girls and women whohave been subjected to FGM is estimated atmore than 130 million individuals worldwide,and a further two million girls are at risk of , a form of Violence against the girl childthat affects her life as an adult woman, is atraditional cultural practice.

9 In those societieswhere it is practised, it is believed that FGM isnecessary to ensure the self-respect of the girland her family and increases her constitutes all procedures that involvepartial or total removal of the external femalegenitalia or other injury to the female genitalorgans whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons. FGM is discussedextensively in the WHO document, FemaleGenital Mutilation (see sheet on Selectedreadings).Son preferenceIn most societies, a higher value is placed onsons. In extreme cases, the reduced status ofdaughters may result in Violence . Prenatal sexselection can result in a disproportionatenumber of abortions of female, as comparedwith male, foetuses. After birth, in familieswhere the demand for sons is highest,infanticide of female infants may be forms of discriminationSon preference may manifest in otherpractices which are discriminatory againstgirls.

10 These practices include: neglect of girls, more so than boys, whenthey are sick; differential feeding of girls and boys; a disproportionate burden of housework forgirls, from a very young age; less access to education for girls than Walker S et al. National and heath determinants ofschool failure and dropout adolescent girls inKingston, Jamaica. Washington, DC: InternationalCenter for Research on women . Nutrition ofAdolescent Girls Research Program, No. 1, Halp rin D et al. Prevalence of child sexual abuseamong adolescents in Geneva: results of a crosssectional survey. British Medical Journal, 1996, 312 World Health Organization. Commercial sexualexploitation of children: the health and psychosocialdimensions. Paper presented at the World CongressAgainst Sexual Exploitation of Children, Stockholm,Sweden, 27-31 August, World Health Organization.