Women's suffering by men's wars

In a world shaped by patriarchal violence, women carry a disproportionate burden of the aftermath

Just as there is much to celebrate on International Women's Day in terms of inspiration and achievement, there is even more to reflect on. In a world shaped by wars that are imagined, crafted, orchestrated and thrust upon (almost exclusively) by men, civilian women carry a disproportionate burden of the aftermath.

Conflict continues to be the primary driver of the forced displacement of people from their homes. Research done in dozens of countries and communities shows that among those who are forcibly displaced, women tend to do much worse than men on nearly all indicators.

Rape has become a weapon of war and subjugation. In refugee camps and informal settlements, women face heightened risks of domestic and gender-based violence and chronic insecurity. Child marriages of young girls in refugee camps are a fairly common practice.

The impact of forced migration on pregnant women leads to malnutrition and infection, on top of trauma and injury, which in turn affects not just mothers but also their children.

Even in high-income countries with ample resources, research on women's health does not get adequate attention. This problem is multiplied manifold in complex humanitarian emergencies, where health challenges faced by women are largely ignored or understudied.

Our understanding of women's health challenges in these places is sometimes primitive. Among those who have disabilities, access to assistive technologies is also skewed against women. Displacement further reinforces existing structural and cultural attitudes, impacting access to education among girls, which has a multiplier effect in creating multi-dimensional poverty among women and families.

Data from Sudan, Ethiopia, Colombia and Jordan show that widows or women who become primary (or sole) earners in camps or displacement settings earn significantly less than men, and are likely to fall into abject poverty. In protracted crisis situations that can last years or decades, this leads to further exclusion, harassment, disease and marginalisation. The devastating impact is intergenerational.

It is then, perhaps, no surprise that when it comes to 'return', women tend to be less enthusiastic than men. Recent research among Syrian women in Turkey suggested that even after the fall of the Assad regime, women are more reluctant to return to Syria than their male counterparts.

The hesitation is based not just on security issues (both in terms of conflict and personal security) but also on uncertainty around accessing health and education services for children, which often tend to be the responsibility of women. Instability around housing (since many women tend to spend more time in their dwellings than men) is also seen as a major concern.

The impact of conflict in many parts of the world - Ukraine, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and more recently in Afghanistan, Iran and other parts of the Middle East - will shape the lives of millions for decades to come.

We have not healed the wounds of wars that ended years ago, and now we are in the midst of conflicts that will lead to the loss of lives of the innocent, create misery and insecurity, and cause infection and instability for countless people. Women, who are displaced because of these wars started by men, are more likely to bear the brunt of these conflicts and their aftermath with scars that are both visible and invisible to many.

On days like International Women's Day, there is often discussion on what men ought to do to make it a kinder, fairer and safer world for women. Maybe that question needs to be reframed - it should not just be what we men need to do, but also what we need to stop doing. Conflicts, fueled by hate, arrogance and grand notions of power, should be high on that list.