Women pay the price of war

Rajdeep Pathak

The Statesman

0
10.03.2026

As we celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the global landscape remains a stark reminder that for millions of women ‘equality’ is not a corporate slogan, but a matter of literal survival. While policy papers often speak of progress, the data from early 2025 and 2026 paints a grim picture of how modern warfare and systemic instability have weaponized the female body. Every year on March 8, the world observes International Women’s Day, a day meant to celebrate the achievements of women and reaffirm the global commitment to gender equality.

Yet, as the world marks this symbolic day in 2026, the global landscape tells a far more troubling story. In regions engulfed by war – from the Gaza Strip to Ukraine, from Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Iran and Israel, to Russia and the Afghanistan and not to leave out India – women are not only victims of conflict but often its most vulnerable targets. As of 2025 and 2026, global conflicts have reached their highest intensity since 1946, creating a catastrophic environment for women and girls where hard-won rights are rapidly unraveling. Approximately 676 million women – nearly 17 per cent of the global female population – now live within 50 kilometers of an active conflict, a modern record that correlates with a 50 per cent spike in maternal mortality in these zones compared to non-conflict settings.

This has created a very dangerous situation for women and girls, and many of the rights they fought hard to achieve are now under serious threat. This is the highest number recorded in modern times. Living so close to war and violence affects every part of their lives, including safety, health, education, and basic freedom. One of the most worrying consequences is the impact on maternal health. In areas affected by war, hospitals are often destroyed, medicines are scarce, and doctors ‘may’ flee the region if they survive the bombs. Because of this, maternal deaths are about 50 per cent higher in conflict zones than in peaceful areas. Women and girls in these regions also face a greater risk of sexual violence, trafficking, forced displacement, and loss of livelihood. Many are forced to leave their homes and live in refugee camps where basic services and protection are limited.

In simple terms, war does not affect everyone equally. Women and girls often suffer the most, not only during the conflict but also long after it ends. Their struggle highlights the urgent need for stronger global efforts to protect them and ensure that peace and security include the voices and safety of women. For example, in the Gaza Strip, the collapse of medical and water infrastructure has left 1.1 million women and girls without safe hygiene, while they and children comprise 59 per cent of all casualties. Similarly, in Ukraine, 6.7 million women require urgent humanitarian aid as gender-based violence has surged by 36 per cent and sexual violence is systematically used as a tactic of war.

According to estimates by UN agencies, more than 28,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023. Human rights experts have warned that the scale of violence against women in the region represents a catastrophic failure of international humanitarian protections. While the world focuses on the headlines of missiles and drones, the ‘shadow pandemic’ of trafficking and domestic abuse thrives in the chaos. When 95 per cent of women-led businesses in Gaza shut down, or when Ukrainian women face a 41 per cent pay gap due to displacement, they become hyper-vulnerable to traffickers. Ukraine documented 366 war-related sexual violence cases by June 2025 (231 women victims), including rape and torture, often in occupied areas. Earlier, in March 2025, reports noted 344 cases with 220 female victims. Displaced women (majority of 5 million IDPs, 6 million refugees) face trafficking for sexual exploitation. Stigma silences many survivors in conservative areas.

This trend of exploitation is mirrored globally, with women and girls making up 63 per cent of trafficking victims and facing an 87 per cent increase in conflict-related sexual violence over the last two years. Recent UN reports indicate that over 4,600 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were verified globally in 2024, representing a sharp rise from previous years. Despite these escalating needs, a profound ‘crisis of exclusion’ persists. The paradox or hypocrisy – of the celebration of IWD – is that while global military spending hit $2.7 trillion in 2024, women’s organizations in conflict zones received a mere 0.4 per cent of humanitarian aid, leaving frontline protectors without the resources to combat rising rates of forced criminality and displacement.

Across Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa, humanitarian agencies have documented increased trafficking risks among refugee populations. Women displaced by war frequently end up in exploitative labour systems, forced marriages, or sexual exploitation networks. Even in digital spaces, new forms of gender-based abuse are emerging. Technology-facilitated harassment, non-consensual sharing of intimate images and cyber exploitation are becoming increasingly common forms of violence against women, which is a clear reflection that violence against women today extends beyond physical spaces. It permeates digital networks, economic systems, and migration routes shaped by inequality and desperation. Ironically, while women bear the heaviest consequences of war, they remain largely excluded from peace negotiations.

Despite international commitments to gender inclusion, women continue to be underrepresented in peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This exclusion has profound implications. Studies have repeatedly shown that peace agreements are more durable and sustainable when women participate in negotiations. Women often prioritize community rehabilitation, education, healthcare, and reconciliation. It is crucial to understand that these factors are essential for long-term peace. Without their voices, peace settlements risk reproducing the same structures of inequality that fuel conflict. On 7 October 2025, during an open debate of the Security Council, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reflected on the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000 – the first landmark framework recognizing the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls.

This ‘fountainhead’ of the ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda affirmed that women are not merely victims of war but vital participants in its prevention and resolution. It calls on UN member states to increase women’s representation at all decision-making levels, from peace negotiations and peacekeeping missions to post-conflict reconstruction. Despite progress since adoption, including a doubling of women in uniform as UN peacekeepers, Guterres warned that these gains are “fragile and going in reverse.” He also noted rising military spending and brutality, with over 600 million women near conflicts zones. The significance of the 2026 International Women’s Day lies not merely in commemorating progress but in confronting uncomfortable truths.

It – like a mirror – reflects a world where 1 in 3 women will still experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, a statistic that has remained largely stagnant for two decades. While violence and war reeks large in the Middle East and across many parts of the world, and as women remain war’s primary casualties, the true significance of IWD lies not in platitudes, but in demanding ceasefire and prevention of women from violence. This is a difficult task. But the process must begin somewhere.

(The writer is Programme Executive, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti.)

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Women pay the price of war

Rajdeep Pathak

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