Impact Of Mindanao Violence An All Too Familiar Story

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Dec 012008
 

This excellent article from IRIN takes an in depth look at the specific impacts that conflict has on women:

“Women on the southern island of Mindanao are bearing the brunt of the separatist violence now in its fourth month.

Mindanao has witnessed an escalation in fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since 10 August.

“I am very tired. When will it ever end?” asked Sumira Endosan, an evacuee in Datu Piang, North Cotabato Province.

According to the latest figures offered by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), more than 300,000 people remain displaced because of the fighting.

Of this number, more than 61,000 are living in evacuation centres, putting additional strain on women.

In addition to extra responsibilities in the home, they now face increased health risks, and protection issues, including an increased risk of sexual violence.

“Bullets do not differentiate between genders, but it is the women who are expected to ensure the continuity of life. In conflict situations, their gender-based needs are often overlooked,” an officer from Isis International, advocating women’s participation in the peace process, told IRIN.

Pregnant and displaced

The cramped evacuation centres and lack of clean water are particularly worrying for pregnant women.

“This, and the lack of privacy, make it difficult to provide post-partum care and hygiene needs,” said Elizabeth Samama, a provincial health officer.

There are more than 1,300 pregnant and lactating mothers in Datu Piang, Samama said.

“Two pregnant women died from multiple injuries from mortar shelling. One woman died from post-partum haemorrhage,” she said.
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 Posted by on December 1, 2008

Rape Crisis In DRC Likely To Get Worse

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Nov 202008
 

From IRIN:

“Soaring insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has raised fears of a new wave of sexual violence in a region termed “the worst place in the world to be a woman” by aid workers.

During the first six months of 2008, there were more than 5,000 reported rape cases in the flashpoint province of North Kivu, according to data collected by doctors at health centres. The true figure is likely to be far higher, as women are too traumatised or afraid of stigma to seek help.

One hospital specialising in sexual violence in Goma, capital of North Kivu, admits on average four women a day – making more than 18,000 since it opened in 2003.

In neighbouring South Kivu, the UN reported 27,000 sexual assaults in 2006. It is impossible to say how many cases there have been across the country but based on anecdotal evidence, doctors say numbers are rising.

With the recent surge in fighting between the government army and rebels led by renegade general Laurent Nkunda, many more women – and some men – will likely have fallen victim to Congo’s notorious reputation for the use of rape as a weapon of war.”

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 Posted by on November 20, 2008

Bloggers Unite For Refugees Day

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Nov 102008
 

The Feminist Peace Network is pleased to be participating in Bloggers Unite For Refugees Day.  This topic is particularly important to us because women and children tend to make up the majority of refugees both as a result of natural disasters and because of war and conflict.  Blog Catalog, which is organizing this event has a list of resources, one in particular that focuses on women and children, the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, much good information on their site and we are pleased to learn about their important work.

As we have noted on this blog before, one of the particular problems faced by women and children is the increased vulnerability to violence and abuse, often in the form of rape. The Lebanon Daily Star reports, women and children who have fled from fighting between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam are at risk of violence and abuse:

“Women and children who fled fighting at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp are at risk of violence and abuse from within their community, but United Nations agencies are failing to coordinate a response to the problem, a meeting heard on Thursday. The huge unemployment, poverty, and frustration caused by the exodus of people from the camp following fighting between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam, a militant Islamist group, has left the displaced population of the camp at greater risk of violence, both at home and in schools.

But the protection measures taken by UN agencies are not adequate to tackle the problem. The UN does not have the mechanisms in place to deal with the violence, both physical and sexual, against women and children within the displaced community, officials attending a co-ordination meeting in Tripoli said.

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 Posted by on November 10, 2008
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