Protection for women is enshrined in international humanitarian law, which is binding on both States and armed opposition groups. This body of law, which includes the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977, provides protection for women as civilians and as captured or wounded combatants.
Women combatants are also protected by the limitations imposed by humanitarian law on permissible means and methods of warfare.
Women need to be able to live without fear of unlawful killings, torture or mutilation, sexual violence, and any form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They need protection from abduction, forced disappearance, arbitrary detention, trafficking, slavery, persecution and harassment. They also need to be protected against the dangers arising from the conduct of hostilities, in particular from indiscriminate attacks, from acts of violence aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population, and from the destruction of objects indispensable to their survival. Furthermore, women need to be kept safe from chemical, bacteriological and other prohibited weapons.
Armed conflicts draw large numbers of combatants and weapons into areas populated by civilians, which raises the level of tension and all too often brings the conflict into the homes of civilians. Women frequently have to submit to limitations on their mobility or risk abuse and injury; this restricts their access to markets and their ability to farm and tend animals, search for firewood, exchange news and seek family support.
Women need to be able to live free from intimidation and abuse by parties to an armed conflict or internal disturbance.
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" It is essential that there should be authorized organizations to monitor the situation… I wish that such a thing could be present all the time to stop any criminal actions. "
Female ex-combatant, Lebanon, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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Sexual violence is a particularly brutal crime to which women are all too frequently subjected in wartime. It is a means of warfare when used to torture, injure, extract information, degrade, intimidate and punis
h for actual or alleged deeds attributed to women or members of their family.
Sexual violence, particularly rape, has been used to bring about “ethnic cleansing” of an area, by spreading fear and compelling people to leave.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence committed in wartime are prohibited under international humanitarian law, which is principally enshrined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols of 1977, and are war crimes under the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Sexual violence in times of armed conflict is not inevitable and must be prevented.
Parties to an armed conflict must ensure that rape and other forms of sexual violence are not committed at any time. Arms bearers must receive clear instructions and training with specific references to the prohibition of sexual violence against women and men, adults and children.
Those who have survived sexual violence need to be protected from further attacks and receive appropriate treatment for the physical and psychological consequences. The treatment must be given confidentially and in a manner that is sensitive to the local culture.
Respect for and protection of women in wartime can and must become a reality.
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" It is more horrible than killing… A bullet in the head is easier than being raped. "
Families of the missing, Bosnia-Herzegovina, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1998
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International humanitarian law protects captured, detained or interned women in situations of armed conflict.
The relevant provisions are laid down in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977 and concern the treatment of persons deprived of their freedom, including the specific conditions of detention and treatment to be granted to women.
In international armed conflicts, the Third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War provides that such prisoners must be treated humanely at all times. Besides this general protection, to which women are entitled without distinction, women are also afforded special protection based on the principle laid down in Article 14 that: "Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex [...]". This principle is followed through in a number of provisions which expressly refer to the conditions of detention for women in prisoner of war camps, such as the obligation to provide separate dormitories for women and men and separate sanitary facilities.
Women civilians who are not nationals of the State in which they find themselves may be interned in an international armed conflict if the security of the State renders this measure absolutely necessary (Art. 42 of the Fourth Geneva Convention). In such situations, there are special provisions regulating their conditions of internment.
In non-international armed conflicts, women who have taken an active part in the hostilities and are captured are entitled to the fundamental guarantees afforded by Articles 4, 5 and 6 of Additional Protocol II relating to the Protection of Victims of Non- International Armed Conflicts. Women are entitled to the same protection as men, but they also have a right to special treatment: unless they are housed as a family, they must be held in separate quarters under the immediate supervision of women.
Civilian women interned by a party to the armed conflict are also protected by the same provisions, and afforded special conditions of internment and protection in relation to penal prosecutions.
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" I used to be a prisoner... I was taken from my house at 12p.m. At 2.30 I was going through the first investigation. My family did not know where I was... The only way I could communicate with my family was the Red Cross. "
Palestinian female teacher, Israel, the occupied territories and the autonomous territories, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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Armed conflict often impels women to leave their homes and possessions, either because a deliberate strategy of forced displacement of civilians has been adopted by one of the parties to the conflict, or because they have been caught up in the fighting and fear attack.
Women need to be able to remain in their homes and communities. In many countries affected by armed conflict, the civilian population is highly dependent on the land as a source of livelihood, so displacement can have life-threatening implications. If they have to flee, women need protection and assistance to reach an area of safety. They may also need appropriate material support during their period of displacement and immediately after their return to their home regions.
Displaced women often rely on support from host communities or international organizations for their daily survival needs. Even so, women typically show courage and ingenuity every day in shouldering their family responsibilities in the absence of their menfolk. In so doing they risk being raped or suffering injury from anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance when collecting water, firewood or traditional foods and herbs for medicine, which are often found long distances from where they have sought shelter.
Displaced women can be particularly vulnerable when they are heads of households, widows, elderly or mothers with small children. Unaccompanied girls are especially at risk. Displaced women are frequently obliged to share accommodation or washing facilities with men not of their family, which may not only violate cultural and privacy norms but may also increase their exposure to attack or abuse.
International humanitarian law — principally enshrined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols of 1977 — prohibits parties to an armed conflict from arbitrarily displacing civilian populations. If they nevertheless do so, humanitarian law protects persons displaced within their own country as members of the civilian population. Humanitarian law also offers protection when displacement occurs across a national border, but only if the host State is also experiencing an armed conflict. Refugees are also protected by refugee and human rights law.
Women need to be specifically involved in assistance and protection programmes set up for their benefit, in order to ensure that they are assisted appropriately and to minimize the risk of abuse or exploitation.
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" I closed the door, locked it, put the key in my pocket and left thinking I would come back tomorrow. "
Displaced woman, Georgia, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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The separation of families is a particularly traumatic aspect of many armed conflicts. Family members need to know the whereabouts of their relatives and to be able to re-establish contact with them; family reunification should take place as quickly as possible.
However, the search for information on the fate of missing relatives may often go on for years, and may continue long after the end of an armed conflict, often without result. Women are particularly affected by the loss of their menfolk as they struggle to survive in the face of an uncertain future.
Women are often the main initiators of requests for news of family members. This is primarily because more men are killed, captured or disappear in relation to an armed conflict, and so it is the male relative being looked for — often by a female relative: the wife, mother, daughter or sister.
All too frequently, the parties to an armed conflict do little to try to determine the fate of missing persons. In addition, women face many constraints when searching for information on missing relatives, since not only financial, cultural, traditional and social barriers but also safety concerns often restrict their access to the authorities, political representatives and the military. As a result, many women form or join groups to exert pressure on the authorities for news of their relatives and to ensure that they are not forgotten.
Not knowing the fate of relatives and not being able to mourn and bury loved ones are terrible burdens for the survivors of an armed conflict. The effects on their ability to cope (inheritance and social security problems) and the chances of reconciliation between communities are enormous. International humanitarian law expressly recognizes the right of families to know the fate of their relatives.
"…the activities of the …Parties to the conflict [with regard to missing and dead persons] …shall be prompted mainly by the right of families to know the fate of their relatives." (Article 32, Additional Protocol I.)
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" ...I don’t know how to explain it, but when your daughter comes and asks you: "Mom, show me a picture of my dad and me", and you tell her: "There is no such thing, there never was such a thing". "
Palestinian female teacher, Israel, the occupied territories and the autonomous territories, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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Women who are members of the civilian population need to have access to food of sufficient nutritional quality to maintain their health and well-being. In situations of armed conflict, the civilian population — women, men and children — may not have the means to ensure their own survival.
Food often becomes scarce in situations of armed conflict, when farms and rural infrastructure are damaged, agricultural production is reduced, and food-processing, storage and distribution systems are destroyed. Incomes may go down at the same time that prices go up. Economic and social networks unravel.
When men take up arms, flee, become disabled or go missing, are detained, or die, the impact on women can be dramatic. They face the heavy burden of taking over the role of head of household and providing for their own needs and those of their family. Certain tasks traditionally carried out by men, such as harvesting, fishing and hunting, can be particularly difficult for women because of social and cultural barriers and lack of skills, and/or the dangers inherent in the hostilities, which restrict mobility and increase the risk of attack or injury.
Women need to have access to the means to prepare food for themselves and their families. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to attack and injury when collecting and searching for firewood, as this may take them into hazardous areas a long distance from their homes and expose them to the danger of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance or the risk of attack and sexual violence.
In situations of armed conflict, women made particularly vulnerable by the hostilities need to receive both food and material assistance. Furthermore, women need to be involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of assistance programmes set up on their behalf to ensure that the assistance provided meets their needs, priorities and cultural requirements, and that it actually reaches the intended beneficiaries.
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" I was not a combatant with a rifle — but a combatant for a piece of bread. "
Mother, Bosnia-Herzegovina, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1998
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Armed conflicts seriously affect the health of the entire population — women, men and children. The dangerous environment prevailing in areas affected by an armed conflict or internal disturbance often creates problems for civilians attempting to reach health services and receive appropriate medical care and medicines.
Local medical services and infrastructures may be severely disrupted, looted and even partly or completely destroyed.
Wounded women, be they combatants or civilians, need to have access to appropriate surgical care and rehabilitation. Furthermore, women and girls are often physically more vulnerable to illness than men owing to their reproductive role. Provision of reproductive health care for women is vital during an armed conflict in order to save lives and prevent and reduce
illnesses and disabilities due to complications during pregnancy and labour, and after giving birth.
In wartime, it is often difficult for women to obtain access to specialist medical services, such as reproductive health care, at a time when traditional systems of medical support are also often reduced. The incidence of sexual violence in armed conflicts - a violation of international humanitarian law - also increases the demand for specific kinds of medical care. Such care needs to be provided promptly, sensitively and confidentially, and must be appropriate to the cultural context and needs of women.
In addition to caring for themselves, women have an important role in promoting and maintaining the health of their family and community. They have learned, or can be taught, to prevent illnesses or to tend sick family members. Women need to be supported and assisted in maintaining their own health and that of their family.
International humanitarian law contains extensive provisions aimed at ensuring the protection of and respect for sick and wounded persons - be they civilians or combatants - as well as medical personnel and facilities.
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" The health sector should always be protected. There is no logic in attacking any institution that afterwards may be helpful. "
Nurse, Colombia, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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International humanitarian law protects women when: they are combatants, by laying down limitations on permissible means and methods of warfare; they are captured, sick, wounded or shipwrecked combatants; they are members of the civilian population not taking an active part in the hostilities.
This protection is enshrined in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977 and in a number of other instruments. Women are afforded both general protection — on the same basis as men — and special protection reflecting their particular needs as women.
Women who are not, or no longer, taking part in hostilities are protected against the effects of the fighting and also against abusive treatment by the parties to hostilities. Women are entitled to humane treatment, respect for their life and physical integrity, and to live free from torture, ill-treatment, acts of violence and harassment. In addition to this general protection, women are afforded special protection. For example, they are specially protected against attack, in particular against rape, enforced prostitution or any form of indecent assault. (Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Art. 27(2), Additional Protocol I, Arts 75 and 76.)
The special protection for women extends to their conditions of detention or internment, for example by stipulating that they must have separate sleeping quarters and sanitary facilities from male detainees or internees. Their specific needs as pregnant women or nursing mothers whilst in detention or as members of the civilian population are also recognized and protected by international humanitarian law.
The ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are important developments in the realization of more effective mechanisms for enforcing international humanitarian law. For example, the fact that rape and other forms of sexual violence in armed conflict have been prosecuted as war crimes is a major step forward in the fight against impunity. Furthermore, under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and any other form of sexual violence constitute grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and are war crimes when committed in international or non-international armed conflict. Article 8 (2) (b) (xxii) and 8 (2) (e) (vi) of the ICC Statute.
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" The enemy should be attacked but civilians should be protected even if they are together with the enemy. "
Militia member, Somalia, People on War consultation, ICRC, 1999
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fr.: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
(http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JRFV?OpenDocument)
