Violence against women during conflict

Violence against women is used as a weapon during times of conflict, and this violence increases women's vulnerability to HIV infection. During conflict and post-conflict periods, women become disproportionately defenceless against HIV infection due to the breakdown of law and order and the intertwined prospects of sexual abuse by military personnel, forced flight from home, the loss of their families and livelihood, and little or no access to health care or prophylaxis. Women can also be subjected to repeated assaults, such as gang rape, where the exposure to multiple partners increases their risk of infection. In Rwanda, during the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of women were raped, many by men who were HIV-positive (Amnesty International). Globally, up to two million women are trafficked every year, many of them at great risk of sexual abuse, and all at risk of HIV infection.

The challenges during conflict are greater for women who experience violence during peacetime, as police and judicial systems crumble and health infrastructure and other services decline. Both UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and 1308 on HIV and Conflict note that women and girls are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV infection during conflict and post-conflict periods. This is not only because they are frequently sexually abused by various armed groups, but because they may be fleeing their homes, may have lost their families and their livelihood, and may have little or no access to health care. Along the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an ongoing civil war has destroyed lives, villages and livelihoods. Now the area is thought to be on the verge of a major HIV epidemic. Some 60 per cent of the militia who roam the countryside raping, torturing and mutilating thousands of women and girls are believed to be HIV-positive, and virtually none of the women have access to services and care (Human Rights Watch).