Conflict and Impact on Gender

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Introduction

Conflicts cause and leave behind a myriad of problems and issues that impacts several spheres of a country. Conflicts affect a country economically, politically, socially and environmentally on a broader level while the micro level impact is what is immediately seen and felt. Conflict has gender specific impacts as well, although it is women who are mostly affected by conflict as they are affected in several more different ways than men, and at a higher intensity in most cases. In certain parts of the world, women face deliberate gender based violence and discrimination.

Women are affected by conflict during the time it takes place as well as in the post conflict period. It is during the post conflict period that these impacts are gravely felt. During conflict time women are direct victims of rape, torture, detention, they are victims as internally displaced and refugees while in the post conflict period women are victims as war widows and war survivors, sole income earners etc while grappling with psychological trauma. Men are also victims of direct armed conflict as most combatants are male and suffer from psychological trauma, loss of limbs/ being impaired, loss of mobility, difficulty in reintegrating into family life and so on.

Conflict and displacement cause demographic shifts that have further result in serious implications such as decreased male population and subsequent structural changes of households, decreased fertility and increased infant mortality, civilian dispersion and reallocations and increased rural to urban migration.

It is essential that governments, policy makers and all stake holders involved in post conflict early recovery takes into account the impact of conflict on gender and take...

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...ctive. November 2005

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