“How Can There Be Peace Without Us?”

While war impacts all civilians, women and girls continue to account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict.

They face targeted sexual violence as a tactic of war, skyrocketing maternal mortality due to destroyed healthcare and increased poverty in female-headed households.

And the situation is only getting worse.

Last year, the Peace Research Institute Oslo published data indicating that in 2024, 676 million women and girls – nearly 17 per cent of the global female population – lived within 50 kilometres of a conflict zone. This number has more than doubled since 1990, highlighting a troubling rise in the reach and intensity of violence.

Conflict creates catastrophic, gender-specific crises, including soaring rates of sexual violence, extreme hunger and the erasure of women from public life and decision-making. And despite over a quarter of a century passing since the unanimous adoption of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), women continue to be excluded from most peace processes despite being disproportionately affected by armed conflict.

However, women from minorities are even more impacted.

Intersectional approaches to violence against women recognise that all oppressions exist simultaneously, and that categories of oppression mutually construct each other to create unique experiences of violence for women and girls.

A striking example – and one that I have witnessed through my work with IWPR - is that of the Yazidi minority, an ancient ethnic and religious monotheistic group living largely in the Middle East.

When Islamic State (IS) rampaged through Syria and Iraq, they left a trail of destruction in their wake. Under IS control, women lost basic rights, including access to education, employment and freedom of movement, and were subjected to sexual violence. Women from minority groups faced even more extreme abuse.

On August 3, 2014, IS terrorists attacked the Yazidi community in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq. Over 7,000 Yazidi women and girls were kidnapped, sexually abused, and sold into slavery. Women deemed to be too old to be enslaved were executed.

Some of those kidnapped later escaped or were freed and ended up in displacement camps in Iraqi Kurdistan; over a third remain missing. Survivors remain traumatised by their captivity and the horrendous abuse they faced.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan, which began almost three years ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is another example of how violence is weaponised against minorities and especially women from marginalised groups.

In a largely-ignored conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands and displaced millions, ethnically motivated attacks on civilians are becoming increasingly common. Many human rights groups have described current events in Sudan as a war on women. This has been characterised by systematic, widespread and brutal violence against women and children, including rape as a weapon of war, targeted killing, forced disappearances and slavery.

Several human rights groups have reported retaliatory attacks along ethnic lines by both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force formerly operated by the government, and the state’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

The RSF has targeted non-Arab communities, particularly  he Kanabi – a historically marginalised group comprised mainly of Nuba and other African tribes – ethnic Zaghawa, Massalit and others, often using racial slurs and dehumanising their victims. And with Arab tribes being perceived as RSF supporters, some have faced reprisals from the SAF.

Amidst such atrocities, women display remarkable strength and courage, protecting and supporting their families, finding often ingenious ways of coping with the difficulties they face. In Iraq and Syria, for instance, many Kurdish women took up arms to defend of their communities against IS. Others rose up as civic and political actors in support of their own communities and other women from different minorities.

Working in Libya, I saw for myself how  women came together amid the Covid-19 pandemic to defy the lines that had been drawn by 15 years of conflict. In a country already buckling under the stress of long-term violence, these women worked with local communities to identify and implement workable solutions for their needs.

In Sudan, the atrocities committed against women and girls have led to strong solidarity and increased coordination among women’s groups. Despite the extreme challenges and risks such activism can expose them to, many Sudanese women are working together to document violations and advocate for peace, with others providing support to IDPs as well as medical services and direct assistance to survivors of sexual and other violence.

Women-led organisations such as the Peace for Sudan platform – which brings together nearly 50 groups – work together on aid, dialogue and ways to include marginalised voices in stopping the conflict. They call for UN Resolution 1325 on WPS to be implemented, making women a meaningful part of shaping the country’s future.

And this makes a difference. Many Yazidi women told me how inspired they were by Nadia Murad, who was kidnapped from her community aged just 21 and held as a sex slave. For months, she was raped and threatened with execution unless she converted to the version of Islam IS deemed acceptable. Murad managed to escape and in 2015 arrived in Germany. There she chose to speak up in defence of other women from her own community and in the hope that doing so would result in her abusers being brought to justice.

In 2018 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on sexual violence as a weapon of war. Her courage and strength were a huge source of inspiration for many of the Yazidi women we engaged with.

And reconstruction is possible, despite many obstacles. The Yazidi Survivors Law, passed by Iraq on March 1, 2021, was a pivotal step in providing reparations and addressing the atrocities committed against Yazidi, Turkmen, Shabak and Christian survivors.

Systemic issues persist, include significant gaps the provision of employment, education and dignified conditions for the many internally displaced people spread around in camps throughout Iraq to return to their homes.

But notable positive steps were made in facilitating access to the application process for survivors to provide access to compensation, land restitution and psychosocial support services.

Against all odds, numerous brave and resilient women continue to persevere, fight injustice, promote peace and security and contribute to their community’s recovery. As one Syrian friend told me, “We are half of every single society no matter what the differences are. How can there be peace without us?”