War and displacement: when women are uprooted
Why women flee
Conflict and displacement are deeply intertwined; disrupting the lives of millions worldwide
>117 million people worldwide had been forced to flee their homes by the end of 2023
Source: UNHRC
63 million people worldwide are predicted to be displaced from their homes by violence and conflict in 2024
Source: UNHCR
80% of internally displaced people were women and children in 2021
Source: IDMC
War and violence force people from their homes, creating asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). You can learn more about the difference between these groups of people over on our blog (click here).
While women are not necessarily more likely to be displaced in terms of sheer numbers compared to men, there are some specific, gendered reasons why women may make the impossible choice to flee:
Gender Roles and Responsibilities
Women's primary caregiving responsibilities for children, the elderly and other family members can make it more difficult for them to flee quickly and increase their likelihood of being displaced in severe crisis when their homes become unsafe.
Gender-Based Violence
Conflict increases the risk of gender-based violence, prompting women and their families to flee their homes out of fear.
Discrimination and Inequality
Women have less access to resources, education and economic opportunities, limiting their ability to cope with and recover from the impacts of conflict.
Targeting of Women and Girls
In some conflicts, women and girls are specifically targeted for violence and persecution as a tactic of war, contributing to higher displacement rates among them.
Disruption of Social Networks
Women rely heavily on social networks for support. Conflict can disrupt these networks, making it harder for women to find safety and assistance locally, thus pushing them to flee.
Meet Solange
One of the women we have served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Solange, shared her story with us. Internally displaced within her home country, Solange says that after surviving numerous experiences of sexual violence and horrendous loss, she fled. Solange has rebuilt her life in her new home, equipped with knowledge, skills and resources gained in our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations programme. Now, she encourages other women survivors of war and rape to take steps forward in their lives.
Please note: Solange's story contains graphic mentions of rape and sexual violence. Please do not read her story if you are likely to find this triggering.
RISKS FACING DISPLACED WOMEN
Women uprooted from their homes face increased vulnerabilities, whether they are within their countries or across international borders
While conflict affects everyone, the experiences of women during displacement are distinct and often more severe due to gender-specific vulnerabilities and societal roles. Here are some of the interconnected ways displacement impacts women:
1. Increased levels of gender-based violence:
1 in 5 refugee women experience sexual violence (UNHCR).
Refugee women often live in crowded, insecure settings like camps or urban slums, lacking privacy and protection, which increases the risk of sexual violence. Financial insecurity can also force women into exploitative situations and displacement disrupts community and family networks that typically offer support, leaving women more exposed to abuse.
Dependency on aid can also put them at risk from those who are supposed to protect them, including aid workers and peacekeepers, some of whom have been implicated in sexual exploitation and abuse.
2. Financial instability:
When people flee - and especially when they flee quickly, as women are so often forced to do - they may have to leave significant assets behind. If a country is in crisis, it also may be difficult for women to access their finances. And, in addition, moving from place to place can be very costly, especially when people are forced to pay smugglers inordinate amounts to find safety.
When women then look to rebuild, many have lost their livelihoods. For many displaced women who have lived in places gripped by restricted gender norms, they may have had their education limited and this could be the first time they are looking to earn an income.
Conflict also often separates families. Women may become the sole caregivers for their children and elderly relatives, increasing their financial burdens and vulnerabilities.
Meet Nastasiya
Nastasiya is one of the women we have supported in Poland after she fled there from Ukraine. She shared how her home, Mariupol, was reduced to rubble, too unsafe to stay with her children. With her husband in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, she had to leave with her children, alone.
Read about her journey, the support she found from our partners on the other side and her hopes for the future.
Please note: Nastasiya is not her real name. She has shared her story under a pseudonym to protect her safety.
3. Health risks:
Displaced people may incur accidental injuries, unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases due to gender-based violence, dehydration and inadequate nutrition. Diseases also spread rapidly in cramped living spaces, like refugee camps, and mental stress is high.
Women may also face limited access to reproductive healthcare, prenatal and postnatal services, and general medical care, resulting in higher maternal and infant mortality rates.
4. Psychosocial stress:
The trauma of conflict and displacement can have severe psychological impacts. Women may experience anxiety, depression and PTSD, which is then compounded by their roles as primary caregivers, financial insecurity and poor physical health.
You just had this horrible experience, you lost your home and you don’t know how you stay alive. You lost your relatives, husband, friends or colleagues and you’re faced with all these tasks, all these problems. This is very difficult.
Meet Kateryna
In Ukraine and Poland, we are working with local partner organisations to reach women who have been displaced since the war began in February 2021.
Kateryna Shukh, Vice President of one of our partner organisations, Bereginia - Mariupol Women's Association, is a psychologist. She fled Ukraine when the war began and now works with other refugees in Poland offering psychological support, including trauma-informed counselling, art therapy, safe spaces for women to gather and connect, and gender-based violence counselling and prevention. Together, our partnership is also providing legal counsel, vocational training and language support in Poland.
5. Legal and social challenges:
Many host countries do not provide adequate legal protection or access to justice, making refugee women easy targets for predators. Women often face additional discrimination in accessing legal protection, property rights and citizenship. In some cultures, their legal status is tied to male family members, complicating their ability to secure rights and assistance independently.
country spotlight: iraq
serving displaced and refugee women
Following the destabilisation of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) control in Iraq and Syria, Iraq faces a displacement crisis.
Iraqi civilians displaced by ISIS and refugees escaping the war in Syria contribute to the country’s number of men, women and children forced to leave their homes. Women for Women International has served women survivors of war in Iraq since 2003, supporting Iraqi, Kurdish, Syrian and Yezidi women.
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Support women affected by conflict today. Your donation could help a woman survivor of war rebuild her life and care for her children.
keep reading
Why women in conflict
subtitle:
When war and insecurity take hold, women bear the heaviest burden of violence, poverty and inequality. Learn more about why supporting women survivors of war is so important.
In conflict-affected countries where we have established offices and local teams, many women in our programmes are refugees or forcibly displaced. And when conflict emerges where we don't have local teams, we work where we can to identify partner organisations on the ground, with whom we meet the unique and urgent needs of women who are often overlooked in times of crisis.
Here are four spotlights on some of the crises we're responding to by serving refugee and displaced women - and ways you can help too.
The Courage Behind Leila's Smile
subtitle:
In 2018, Leila's village in Damascus, Syria was bombed, killing two of her children and injuring her daughter so badly that she still struggles to walk properly today. Despite their injuries, Leila and her daughter made the difficult to decision to leave their home and seek asylum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In the face of immense grief, Leila knew that she needed to move forward for the sake of her family.