Too usually, ladies are seen as oblique victims. However they’re direct targets of bombs and missiles.
Sima Bahous spoke on the UN Headquarters high-level open debate on “Safety of civilians in armed battle”, the place she urged international leaders to place the protection and rights of girls and ladies on the coronary heart of peacebuilding efforts at a time when the state of affairs of girls and ladies is quickly deteriorating throughout battle zones.
She mentioned that over 612 million ladies and ladies now reside in battle zones and that “they don’t seem to be simply caught within the crossfire… their our bodies, their well being, their decisions, and their voices are actively focused,” mentioned Bahous. “That’s not only a quantity; it ought to be a name to motion for all of us,” she mentioned.
In African conflicts, the state of affairs is especially dire.
Violence, displacement, and systemic gender-based abuse threaten thousands and thousands of girls dwelling in African nations reminiscent of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
She mentioned that ladies’s our bodies are too usually used as battlegrounds in conflicts, by means of sexual violence and a denial of reproductive rights. “Sixty-one p.c of all maternal deaths happen in simply 35 conflict-affected international locations, Bahous mentioned. Up to now yr, we have now seen bombed maternity wards, blockaded medical provides, and big funding cuts.”
“When markets, maternity wards, ladies’ colleges, and houses are hit, ladies and ladies die; it’s no accident. These assaults are rising extra frequent, they usually present precisely how wars are being waged,” she mentioned.
The UN Ladies chief drew consideration to the idea of reproductive violence as a definite type of hurt, citing the deliberate destruction of reproductive well being infrastructure in battle zones.
In Sudan, the place maternal healthcare is critically underfunded, ladies face heightened dangers of preventable pregnancy-related deaths. Bahous urged the Council to deal with such acts as violations of worldwide regulation and maintain perpetrators accountable, saying that “the destruction of reproductive well being infrastructure represents a blatant violation of worldwide regulation and it’s costing ladies their lives”.
Psychological well being will not be a luxurious, it’s life-saving.
Bahous mentioned that violence leaves scars not solely on the physique, however on the thoughts. Trauma compounds over time, particularly when layered with loss, displacement, and fixed concern.
Ladies’s organizations are on the frontlines, she mentioned, documenting abuses and sheltering the displaced regardless of extreme funding shortages. “In Sudan, in DR Congo, and elsewhere, they doc abuses and shelter the displaced,” Bahous mentioned, warning that funding cuts might pressure half of those organizations to shut inside six months. “90% are already on the breaking level. Continued funding cuts will value us the very ladies driving peace and restoration on this planet’s most fragile contexts.”
“Regardless of every part, ladies resist with braveness, with management, and with care,” she mentioned.
Bahous known as on international leaders to assist ladies’s organizations engaged on the frontlines of battle, urging the pressing want for political and monetary backing. She urged leaders to behave decisively, saying: “Assist them, in your collective selections, in your bilateral funding, and your dialogues with governments closing civic area.”
She appealed to the Council ” to make use of their affect”.
She mentioned psychological well being assist will not be a luxurious however a life-saving necessity, with out which ladies can’t get well or lead rebuilding efforts.
Focused assaults on ladies in public life by means of digital violence, reminiscent of deepfakes and on-line harassment, have develop into a brand new battleground. “Ladies who communicate out – journalists, activists, politicians – face bullets, bombs, threats, and smear campaigns. Even when not bodily attacked, they’re pushed out by digital violence: deepfakes, harassment, and disinformation.”
She known as for recognizing these assaults as civilian safety points, arguing that ladies’s participation in peace processes is not possible with out security.
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Bahous laid out three pressing appeals to the UN Safety Council, stressing that peace and safety for ladies and ladies can’t be separated from justice, funding, and empowerment. She urged the Council to strengthen justice and accountability mechanisms.
“The Council should do extra to assist justice and accountability for ladies and ladies,” she mentioned, stressing that impunity permits atrocities to proceed. Whereas UN Ladies has lengthy supported investigations, she warned, “documentation alone will not be sufficient.”
She mentioned ladies’s organizations want elevated assist in fragile contexts like Sudan and the DR Congo, the place UN Ladies channeled US$110 million in 2024 to assist native efforts.
She advocated for ladies’s empowerment as a safety technique: “When ladies lead, they shield not solely themselves however their households and their communities and their international locations.”
