Women as Victims of War and Conflict: The Untold Story in Global Peace

War leaves deep scars on communities, but few are as profound and systematic as those inflicted upon women. While conflict affects everyone, women face unique forms of violence that are often overlooked in discussions of warfare. From deliberate sexual violence used as military strategy to the exploitation surrounding military installations, and from the dangers lurking in refugee camps to the courageous resistance movements led by women themselves, the experiences of women in war zones reveal both the depths of human cruelty and the heights of human courage.

Rape as a deliberate weapon of war
The legacy of “comfort women” and military sexual slavery
Sexual exploitation around military bases
The cycle of exploitation and abandonment
Danger in displacement and refugee camps
The burden of survival
Women’s early peace activism
The women of Greenham Common

Rape as a deliberate weapon of war

Sexual violence during conflict is not simply an unfortunate byproduct of war-it is often a systematic and deliberate military strategy designed to humiliate, control, and destroy communities. Organizations like Amnesty International have documented how rape serves specific military purposes: to inflict psychological trauma, perpetuate social control, and redraw ethnic boundaries.

The scale of this violence is staggering. During the 1937 Nanking Massacre, Japanese soldiers raped an estimated 20,000 women in the first month of occupation alone. In Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped in just 100 days. During the Bosnian War in the 1990s, between 20,000 and 50,000 women were subjected to sexual violence as part of ethnic cleansing campaigns.

What makes these acts particularly horrific is their calculated nature. In Bosnia, Serbian commanders deliberately ordered troops to rape Bosnian women so they would give birth to Serbian children, aiming to destroy the opposing ethnic community. In Rwanda, Hutu extremists even formed special rape squads of HIV-positive patients released from hospitals, intentionally infecting Tutsi women to cause what they called a “slow, inexorable death.”

The legacy of “comfort women” and military sexual slavery

One of the most systematic examples of sexual violence in modern warfare involves the so-called “comfort women”-a euphemism that masks the brutal reality of military sexual slavery. Between 1932 and 1945, the Japanese Imperial Army forced an estimated 20,000 to 200,000 women into sexual servitude across occupied territories.

The majority of these women came from Korea, though victims also included women from China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other occupied areas. Women were recruited through deception, with false promises of jobs as factory workers or nurses, or were simply abducted from their homes and schools.

Life in these military brothels was horrific. Women were forced to serve 25 to 35 men daily, subjected to repeated rape, physical abuse, and harsh living conditions. Many did not survive, and those who did carried deep physical and emotional scars. For decades after World War II, survivors remained silent due to shame and stigma. Only in 1991 did the first survivor, Kim Hak-sun, come forward publicly, breaking decades of silence and inspiring others to seek justice.

Sexual exploitation around military bases

The connection between foreign military presence and sexual exploitation extends well beyond wartime. Around U.S. military bases in Asia, a pattern of organized prostitution and trafficking has persisted for decades, revealing how military installations create conditions that exploit local women.

In South Korea, the area around U.S. bases became known for “camp towns” where an estimated one million Korean women have been used in prostitution over six decades of American military presence. The U.S. and South Korean governments were complicit in this system, with officials organizing regular health checks and registration systems for women working in these establishments, essentially managing a state-supported sex industry.

This exploitation wasn’t limited to Korea. Similar patterns emerged around bases in the Philippines, Japan, and other locations. By 2009, about 3,000 to 4,000 women annually came from Southeast Asia to work in these areas, accounting for 90% of sex workers near bases. The women often came from impoverished rural communities, their economic desperation exploited by traffickers who supplied the demand created by military personnel.

The cycle of exploitation and abandonment

The consequences extended beyond the women themselves. Amerasian children born to these women faced severe stigma and discrimination, often abandoned by their military fathers and raised by single mothers with little support. These children suffered prejudice in education and employment, living reminders of the power imbalances between occupying forces and local populations.

Danger in displacement and refugee camps

Even when women flee conflict zones seeking safety, they often find themselves facing new dangers. Refugee camps, theoretically established as protective spaces, frequently become sites of continued violence and exploitation.

Women and children constitute 80 percent of refugees worldwide, and their experiences in camps reveal systematic failures in protection. One study found that 95 percent of Cambodian women in refugee camps experienced unwanted sexual encounters, abuse, or rape. The perpetrators include not only fellow refugees but sometimes the very people meant to protect them-camp security forces, border police, and even humanitarian workers.

The conditions in camps create particular vulnerabilities. Women must venture outside safe areas to collect firewood and water, exposing themselves to attack. Overcrowded facilities often lack adequate lighting and private sanitation facilities. Camp layouts frequently fail to prioritize women’s safety, with poorly lit paths and isolated toilet facilities creating dangerous situations.

The burden of survival

Refugee women shoulder enormous responsibilities during displacement. They must ensure family survival-finding food, water, and fuel-while protecting children and maintaining some semblance of family structure, all while navigating these dangerous environments. Many face the additional burden of silence: cultural stigma means that women who are raped often cannot speak out, fearing rejection by family members and ostracism from their communities.

Women’s early peace activism

Despite-or perhaps because of-their experiences as victims of war, women have also been at the forefront of peace movements. Their activism challenges the narrative that women are merely passive victims, revealing them as powerful agents for change.

In April 1915, amid the carnage of World War I, something remarkable happened. About 1,136 women from twelve countries-including nations at war with each other-gathered at The Hague for the International Women’s Peace Congress. Led by pioneers like Jane Addams and Dutch physician Aletta Jacobs, these women defied wartime travel restrictions and social expectations to advocate for peace.

The congress resulted in the formation of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), which continues its work today. These early activists established principles that remain relevant: that disputes should be settled peacefully, that women must be included in peace processes, and that true security cannot be built on military force alone.

The women of Greenham Common

Decades later, another group of women demonstrated extraordinary persistence in peace activism. On September 5, 1981, a group of women arrived at RAF Greenham Common in England to protest the planned deployment of American nuclear cruise missiles. What began as a march from Cardiff evolved into a 19-year encampment that became a global symbol of anti-nuclear resistance.

The Greenham women faced harsh conditions-living in tents through brutal winters, enduring police harassment, and facing public ridicule. Yet they persisted. In December 1982, 30,000 women joined hands to surround the entire nine-mile perimeter of the base in the “Embrace the Base” event. They continued their protest even after missiles were deployed in 1983, and their sustained pressure contributed to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that led to the missiles’ removal.

The camp remained until 2000, long after the last missiles left in 1991, as a continuing witness against nuclear weapons. The Greenham Common protest demonstrated how sustained, nonviolent resistance by women could influence international security policy and inspire peace movements worldwide.

What do you think? How can societies better protect women during conflict and displacement while also recognizing their agency as peacebuilders? What lessons from historical women’s peace movements remain relevant for addressing today’s conflicts?

References

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Women as Victims of War and Conflict: The Untold Story in Global Peace

Table of Contents

Rape as a deliberate weapon of war 🔗

The legacy of “comfort women” and military sexual slavery 🔗

Sexual exploitation around military bases 🔗

The cycle of exploitation and abandonment 🔗

Danger in displacement and refugee camps 🔗

The burden of survival 🔗

Women’s early peace activism 🔗

The women of Greenham Common 🔗