Global Burden of Armed Violence - The Geneva Declaration on ...

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114 <strong>The</strong> impact <strong>of</strong> armed conflict on women’s health is difficult to ascertain as relevant and reliable data is sparse in developing countries and even less available during armed conflict. Mortality studies tend to focus on age groups rather than male and female mortality. For example, an analysis <strong>of</strong> 37 datasets on conflict-related mortality (Guha- Sapir and von Panhuis, 2004) compares the risk <strong>of</strong> dying for children younger than five years old and persons older than five years during armed conflict with the pre-conflict risk. Findings show very high vulnerability for children under five, and increased mortality due to diarrhoeal diseases, severe malnutrition, respiratory infections, and measles. GLOBAL BURDEN <strong>of</strong> ARMED VIOLENCE Maternal mortality, defined as the annual number <strong>of</strong> deaths from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births, is a good indicator <strong>of</strong> women’s health condition, and can be used to assess the indirect impact <strong>of</strong> armed conflict on women. 2 <strong>The</strong> findings in Table 6.1, from a study assessing the impact <strong>of</strong> armed conflict on maternal mortality and under-five mortality, showed increased maternal and under-five mortality rates in countries that had recently experienced armed conflict (O’Hare and Southall, 2007). <strong>The</strong> maternal and under-five mortality rates are both 44 per cent higher than the baseline rates. Table 6.1 Comparison <strong>of</strong> maternal mortality and under-five mortality in 42 sub-Saharan countries Mortality rates Countries with recent armed conflict Maternal mortality rate (median) Under-five mortality rate (median) Countries without recent armed conflict 1,000/100,000 births 690/100,000 births 197/1,000 live births 137/1,000 live births Source: O’Hare and Southall (2007). <strong>The</strong> study covered 42 sub-Saharan countries, <strong>of</strong> which 21 have experienced armed conflict since 1990. Box 6.1 <strong>Armed</strong> conflict and HIV/AIDS A common assumption is that armed conflict increases HIV infections, and that refugees and internally displaced people are particularly at risk and likely to experience a higher incidence <strong>of</strong> HIV infections. This assumption has been fuelled by increased reporting on widespread rape <strong>of</strong> women and girls during armed conflict and high levels <strong>of</strong> HIV/AIDS in some armed groups. However, the findings <strong>of</strong> a recent study by UNHCR and the University <strong>of</strong> Copenhagen on the incidence <strong>of</strong> HIV infections among conflict- affected and displaced people in seven sub- Saharan African countries 3 could not confirm these assumptions at the population level due to insufficient data (Spiegel et al., 2007). Further research is thus needed. News and NGO reports on the armed conflicts in Darfur or the DRC frequently refer to horrifying stories <strong>of</strong> sexual violence, especially rape, against women and girls. Data on the scope and magnitude <strong>of</strong> sexual violence is, however, scarce, making it impossible to estimate the overall extent <strong>of</strong> sexual violence in armed conflicts (INDIRECT CONFLICT DEATHS, Box 2.2). Evidence from a WHO survey on women’s experience <strong>of</strong> violence during and after the conflict in Liberia found that 81.6 per cent <strong>of</strong> 1,216 randomly selected women and girls had been subjected to one or multiple violent acts during and after the conflict. <strong>The</strong> most commonly reported violent acts were detention against a woman’s will, being threatened by a weapon, beating, kicking, and rape (<strong>of</strong> which more than 70 per cent were gang rapes) (Omanyondo, 2005). Beyond battle, armed conflict has many disruptive consequences for women’s lives. Women carry the burden <strong>of</strong> family displacement and <strong>of</strong> becoming the sole breadwinner when male relatives join fighting forces, are detained, are taken hostage,
go missing, or are killed. In such situations, women take on additional responsibilities <strong>of</strong> income generation and <strong>of</strong> caring for their children and wounded, disabled, sick, and elderly people. Women face these challenges in environments that are not only war-torn but contain social and legal obstacles that may seriously hamper women’s livelihood and other opportunities. Discrimination against women and gender inequal- ity are the main reasons why ‘indirect negative consequences on health and mortality are likely to affect men and women differently’ (Plümper and Neumayer, 2006). In situations <strong>of</strong> scarce resources and deteriorated health services, the lower socio-economic status <strong>of</strong> women and girls exacerbates the negative consequences <strong>of</strong> armed conflict for women’s health. Non-conflict violence against women <strong>The</strong> UN General Assembly’s <strong>Declaration</strong> on the Elimination <strong>of</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> against Women (1993) defines violence against women as: any act <strong>of</strong> gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats <strong>of</strong> such acts, coercion or arbitrary depri- vation <strong>of</strong> liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Article 2 <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Declaration</strong> makes clear that violence against women takes many forms: physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse <strong>of</strong> female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation; physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution; physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs. (UNGA, 1993) While men are the main perpetrators <strong>of</strong> violence against women, women also commit such violence: female infanticide, for example, is <strong>of</strong>ten Photo ! A Tamil woman stays at her war-torn house in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. © Q. Sakamaki/Redux 115 A R M E D V I O L E N C E AG A I N S T WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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G L O B A L www.genevadeclaration.o
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G L O B A L www.genevadeclaration.o
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Foreword Armed vio
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Contents Executive Summary ........
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About the Geneva <
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of direct conflict
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Executive Summary Armed</st
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Figure 1 captures graphically the d
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This report also finds that the aft
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��
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Chapter One Direct Conflict Death <
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approaches that featured cross-nati
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us, non-state and intercommunal arm
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niques and inclusion requirements (
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Figure 1.2 Estimates of</st
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North Africa Sudan 7,284 1,098 2,60
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Map 1.1 The GBAV c
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�� Increasing di
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Table 1.4 Estimated direct conflict
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Table 1.7 Direct conflict death rat
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accounts overwhelmingly for the glo
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Chapter Two The Ma
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Sexual violence in armed conflict a
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continued for six months due to the
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Table 2.1 Comparison of</st
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of sexual violence
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can be explained by the relatively
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Box 2.3 A very dark number: direct
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Photo Victims of v
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Table 2.5 Violent death estimates f
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Chapter Three Armed</strong
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ized by a clear victory of<
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On the basis of Ch
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illegal war economies, including th
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standards issued by UNHCR emphasize
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Table 3.4 Risk factors for youth vi
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Map 3.2 The youth
Page 75 and 76: Given the potential importance <str
Page 77 and 78: interventions based on identified n
Page 79 and 80: Chapter Four Lethal Encounters: Non
Page 81 and 82: violence in Mexico in 2007-08 (BBC,
Page 83 and 84: comparisons between regions <strong
Page 85 and 86: tively. The Caribb
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Page 89 and 90: Table 4.1 National-level homicide t
Page 91 and 92: sistent increases during the time p
Page 93 and 94: Box 4.3 Sex, age, and armed violenc
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Page 97 and 98: American countries have similar tre
Page 99 and 100: evidence on the patterns and distri
Page 101 and 102: Chapter Five What’s in a Number?
Page 103 and 104: observe that war has negative effec
Page 105 and 106: Box 5.1 Accounting for the costs <s
Page 107 and 108: of conflict and co
Page 109 and 110: Table 5.2 The soci
Page 111 and 112: In Uganda, a protracted armed confl
Page 113 and 114: �� Lost product
Page 115 and 116: Figure 5.3 Potential gains in life
Page 117 and 118: playing a role in promoting an end
Page 119 and 120: 16 Specifically, the health and yea
Page 121 and 122: Chapter Six Armed
Page 123 and 124: (Myrttinen, 2003, p. 38). T
Page 125: NATO Forces and The</strong
Page 129 and 130: disaggregated data is still not ava
Page 131 and 132: Acts of sexual vio
Page 133 and 134: Dowry-related violence A dowry is t
Page 135 and 136: sex ratios reported at birth is pre
Page 137 and 138: Chapter Seven Other Forms o
Page 139 and 140: will likely emerge. Armed</
Page 141 and 142: Gangs in Central America Central Am
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Page 145 and 146: The absence <stron
Page 147 and 148: Table 7.1 Recorded cases of
Page 149 and 150: Figure 7.2 Kidnap for ransom cases
Page 151 and 152: armed violence, since, beyond the d
Page 153 and 154: Bibliography Executive Summary CNP
Page 155 and 156: Burr, M. 1993. A Working Document:
Page 157 and 158: Thieren, Michael. 2005. ‘Health I
Page 159 and 160: ——. 2008. Small Arms Survey 200
Page 161 and 162: Nations-Survey-on-Crime-Trends-and-
Page 163 and 164: ground Paper. Geneva</stron
Page 165 and 166: --. 2003. ‘Masculinities and Masc
Page 167 and 168: ights-and-wrongs-of</strong
Page 169 and 170: Boxes List of Illu
Page 171 and 172: Map 4.1 Homicide rates per 100,000
Page 173 and 174: Figure 2.1 Typology of</str
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