Violence against women and girls in conflict: progress and priorities

Abstract

Armed conflict is increasing throughout the world and disproportionately affects the lives of women and girls. In 2023, an estimated 612 million women and girls lived within 50 km of a conflict, an increase of 41% since 2015.1 These women and girls face many challenges, including an increasing likelihood of experiencing gender-based violence (GBV). In 2023, 3688 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence were verified by the UN, with women and girl survivors making up 95% of these incidents.1 However, this figure might be a substantial underestimate of the true number of women and girls experiencing violence during conflict. A forthcoming meta-analysis of prevalence data (pooling data from 11 studies from conflict-affected contexts with 7948 participants) found that over one in ten of the women surveyed (11%) had experienced sexual violence perpetrated by a non-partner during a conflict; estimates of the lifetime prevalence of nonpartner sexual violence from women in conflict settings (21%; based on data from 16737 participants from eight studies) were triple WHO global estimates (6%).2,3 Recent reports from areas of conflicts, such as Sudan, indicate that the scale of this brutality is increasing, not abating.

Authors: Maureen Murphy, Alina Potts, Gabriella Nassif, Limiaa Abdelgafar Khalfalla, Jihan Kaisi, Anny T Modi, Emanuela Paul, Sheuly Sharma, Anna Tazita Samuel, Mary Ellsberg