Silent Suffering: Human Rights Violations Against Women and Girls in Conflict Zones
A blog by Christina Cuhsen - Young Expert at Girls Human Rights Hub
Introduction
While war and conflict rages on, women and girls in these areas are living without any human rights. In many cases, their human rights are being violated, exposing them to violence, torture, abuse and sexual exploitation. These are the challenges that many women and girls face day to day while they live in fear of their own safety.
This report sets out to highlight some of the main challenges and barriers that women and girls face, shining a light on these challenges and violations and bringing awareness to them. While statistics may not be accurate in many situations, evidence has shown that women and girls suffer human rights violations, mostly due to sexual exploitation and the history and past of women’s rights.
Firstly, I will be discussing the impact that voice and sexual exploitation has on women and girls.
Secondly, I will examine the barriers that girls face in obtaining an education, bringing statistics and stories from girls who have experienced such barriers in attending school.
Thirdly, I will be analyzing the impact that war and conflict have on women and girls with disabilities and how due to the lack of support women and girls with disabilities[1] are more vulnerable than those without a disability.
Violence and Sexual exploitation
In armed conflict, the biggest form of trafficking is the sexual exploitation of women and girls. Often this is due to the fact the families are forced to marry off their daughters for survival. In other cases, girls are abducted, sexually exploited, and even raped. In a 2023 statement the United Nations expressed its concern about the continuation of violence towards women and girls.
In Sudan, women are captured and detained by the armed forces, sexually assaulted, and forced to become slaves, it was stated by the UN[2] . “Sudanese women and girls in urban centers as well as in Darfur have been particularly vulnerable to violence. The lives and safety of migrant and refugee women and girls, primarily from Eritrea and South Sudan, have also been seriously affected […] It is alleged that men identified as members of the RSF are using rape and sexual violence of women and girls as tools to punish and terrorise communities. Some of the reported rapes appear to be ethnically and racially motivated”[1].
In another case women[3] and girls are being targeted by the Israeli and Hamas forces. According to the UN, women and girls are being detained, beaten, sexually assaulted. There are even reports that Palestinian Women are being detained without food and water in a cage in the open air. The United Nations has stated that “Palestinian women and girls in detention have also been subjected to multiple forms of sexual assault, such as being stripped naked and searched by male Israeli army officers. At least two female Palestinian detainees were reportedly raped while others were reportedly threatened with rape and sexual violence”[2].
Nadia Murad, a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, spoke to the UN on a number of occasions and once with her Lawyer Amal Clooney. In a speech on Human Rights Day, she stated “ISIL tore apart my family and entire community. They tried to convert Yazidis to Islam and murdered the men and older women who refused. Younger women and children were kidnapped and subjected to the ISIL sex slave trade. I was held captive by ISIL and abused by militants, but I managed to escape. Once I was able to seek refuge, I knew that I must tell my story and expose ISIL war crimes. I will never forget what they did to me, my family and my community, and I need the world to know, too.”[3]
Barriers to accessing education
According to UNICEF, there are more than 25 million children that are living in conflict zones without access to education and girls are the worst affected. While in many cases, schools are a safe place where children are free from the potential of abuse, exploitation and violence, in times of conflict (when children need this protection the most), the ability of children to get access to protection and an education is not even possible. However, as the UNICEF Chief of Education said “At no time is education more important than in times of war [...] Without education, how will children reach their full potential and contribute to the future and stability of their families, communities and economies?”[4]
UNICEF estimates that the percentage of girls out of primary school is 76% in South Sudan, 55% in Afghanistan and 53% in Chad whereas the percentage of girls not attending high school is 68% in Niger, 60% in South Sudan and 55% in Central African Republic.[5]
In Afghanistan, the education of boys takes priority, and girls’ education is regarded as undesirable, only accepted before puberty. A 14-year old girl from Afghanistan told the Human Rights Watch that “the Taliban didn’t allow girls to go to schoo[...]Maybe three or four years ago, the Taliban attacked the school. Some classes were in session. The students were unharmed, but five or six teachers were injured. Some of them now have disabilities, and two were killed. The school itself was burned. After this, our elders didn’t dare reopen the school, and it closed permanently. I had just started class one and had only been to school for a few weeks when my parents pulled me out for security reasons. Then the attack happened.”[6]
We have also seen that Boko Haram forces in Nigeira have stormed schools, killing and abducting school girls. One girls stated that she was kept hostage for 2 years, explaining that “[they] are still not safe ... It brings back memories of what happened to me. I can never forget being snatched from my parents, my family for so long. I pray this is not the case for those that are kidnapped.”[7] Another girl told how she was forced to marry a Boko Haram Soldier and stated that “The soldiers were beating us with their belts, calling us names and telling us they will deal with us because we are Boko Haram wives.”[8]
The reality is that girls in conflict areas around the world are unable to get an education, as it is seen as secondary. This leaves girls prone to child labour, forced marriage, and exploitation.
Barriers that women and girls have to health care
In war and conflict zones, the impact on women and girls' health takes its toll as often, women and girls have to risk their lives, travel to another city, or it may even be the case that the relevant medical services are unavailable. The International Rescue Committee has stated about Yemen that “Lifesaving and urgent services, including for sexual and reproductive health, the treatment of sexual violence related injuries, and the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, cannot reach women and girls who need them.”[9] However, in many countries where war and conflict rage on, these healthcare services cannot reach women and girls.
A Yemeni woman told the Human Rights Watch that her aunt, an elderly woman, needs a male relative to escort her back and forth between Houthi-controlled Taizz and government-controlled Taizz to get treatment. She told how once, her mother’s health deteriorated and she needed to go to the hospital, but she had to wait for her son to first travel from Sanaa to Hawban in Taizz (a 6-8 hour journey) to then take her.
In Sudan, the World Health Organisation disclosed that, with the lack of power at the hospitals,children are dying from lack of oxygen. They stated “six newborns died at a hospital in the city of Eld’aeen in East Darfur in the space of a week due to issues including a lack of oxygen amid electricity blackouts and local doctors estimated that more than 30 newborns have died at the hospital since the start of the fighting. ”[10] However, between the period of April-June 2023, the WHO has estimated that there have been approximately 46 attacks on health workers and facilities which limits the ability and the capacity of healthcare workers being able to assist women and provide them with urgent maternity, reproductive and chronic disease treatment.
Impact and struggles of women and girls with disabilities
It is estimated that 15-20% of the global population live with a disability. However, due to conflicts and wars, the actual number is probably much higher. In conflict zones, women and girls with disabilities have greater struggles due to the inability to flee, limited access to medical treatment, and, in some cases, they are forced to live on their own as the men go off and fight.
A 26-year-old woman spoke to the Human Rights Watch about her experience in 2014 in Gaza. She has a physical disability and was unable to flee her home with her family. As the missile struck her home, she lost a leg and her mobile scooter was destroyed. After the attack a family member came back to rescue her.[11]
In the Central African Republic, a 14-year-old girl with Polio told the harrowing story that “when her community was attacked, her brother carried her on his back until he got too tired to continue. When anti-balaka fighters found Hamamatou two weeks later, they said, “We have found an animal. Let’s finish it off.””[12]
In another story, a father tells the Human Rights Watch about his 4-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy and epilespy in Yemen.In 2015, he said that “her medication is important for her health because when she takes it regularly, she only experiences an epileptic seizure once every two weeks. But when she does not take the medicine, she experiences a seizure twice a day…. It’s hard to feel useless.”[13]
It is important to highlight that women and girls with disabilities suffer the most mentally during conflict. According to the African Health Organisation, it is estimated that anxiety and depression affect 1 in 3 women with depressive disorders accounting for 41.9% of neuropsychiatric disabilities compared to 29.3% among men.[14]
One teacher from Cameroon following the attack by the armed forces recalled “they [children with disabilities] suffered more than others… They were particularly traumatized by the violence they witnessed.”[15] We see the impact of girls with disabilities all around the world. as one Syrian father tells of his 11-year-old daughter with a hearing disability, “Shahid was psychologically affected. Whenever there was an airstrike, the children became terrified, and we started yelling and trying to run to the shelters, and when she saw us in that situation, she started to cry. Now whenever there is something unexpected, even if someone rushes into the house, she starts to cry.”
Unfortunately, in many of these circumstances, these women and girls cannot get the psychological assistance they need due to the stigma and the abuse that they receive. In many cases, living in conflict-raging areas impacts these women more than women without a disability.
Conclusion
Throughout war and conflict, women and girls are often living in silence and their suffering can often be forgotten. As they suffer, their lives become miserable and bleak while the world looks at the global consequences of the war. Unfortunately, stories like those in this report are not out of the ordinary;these women and girls are powerless and helpless but we can make a difference to their lives. Women and girls globally need to challenge these wrongs and push for change because we as women and girls have the power to make change. As Madeleine Albright said “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”, and in the world in which we live, other women have the power, and obligation, to make a difference to the lives of their fellow women.
*The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the Young Experts and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of the Girls Human Rights Hub. The content shared here is intended to provide insights and perspectives on girls human rights and human rights issues, but it is important to recognise that individual opinions may vary.
Sources:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/11/nigeria-10-years-after-chibok-schoolchildren-still-risk
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/10/nigeria-military-holding-children-boko-haram-suspects
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/04/yemen-warring-parties-restrict-womens-movement
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/27-million-children-out-school-conflict-zones
https://www.un.org/en/seeking-justice-and-dignity-survivors
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/04/yemen-warring-parties-restrict-womens-movement
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/june-2023/sudan-women-and-girls-hit-hard-attacks-health
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/08/persons-disabilities-context-armed-conflict#_ftn2
https://aho.org/health-topics/girls-mental-health/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/02/un-high-risk-conflicts-children-disabilities
[1] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN experts alarmed by reported widespread use of rape and sexual violence against women and girls by RSF in Sudan, 17 August 2023.
[2] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel/oPT: UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls, 19 February 2024.
[3] Nadia Murad, ‘Seeking Justice and Dignity for Survivors’ (Speech, United Nations, 20 November 2017).
[4] UNICEF, 25 million children out of school in conflict zones, 24 April 2017.
[5] Ibid
[6] Human Rights Watch, “I won’t be a Doctor, and One Day You’ll be Sick” Girl’s Access to Education in Afghanistan, 17 October 2017, pg135.
[7] Human Rights Watch, “Nigeria: 10 Years after Chibok, Schoolchildren Still at Risk” Implement Safe Schools Plan to Protect Schools, Children, 11 April 2024.
[8] Human Rights Watch, “Nigeria: Military Holding Children as Boko Haram Suspects” Thousands Have Been Held in Deplorable Conditions, 10 September 2019.
[9] Human Rights Watch, “Yemen: Warring Parties Restrict Women’s Movement” Movement Barriers Violate Political, Social, Economic Rights, 4 March 2024.
[10] World Health Organisation, “Sudan: Women and girls hit hard by attacks on health”, 21 June 2023
[11] Human RIghts Watch, ‘Persons with Disabilities in the Context of Armed Conflict”, Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 8 June 2021, [2].
[12] Ibid, [21].
[13] Human Rights Watch, “UN: High Risk in Conflicts for Children with Disabilities” Urgently Strengthen Protection, Assistance, Inclusion, 2 February 2022.
[14] ‘Girls Mental Health’, ‘African Health Organisation’, (Health Topics), <https://aho.org/health-topics/girls-mental-health/>
[15] Ibid