Women Facing War – An ICRC study

31-12-2001 Article, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 844

On 17 October 2001, the ICRC has published Women Facing War, a study on the impact of armed conflict on women. At this occasion, the President of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, made a declaration, where he calls for others too to recognize the specific problems women face in conflict.

On 17 October 2001, the ICRC has published Women Facing War, a study on the impact of armed conflict on women. At this occasion, the President of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, has made the following declaration:

The International Committee of the Red Cross has just published Women Facing War, a major study of the impact of armed conflict on women. Why women? The answer is simple:women are affected in many ways by war, some of them very specific to women, yet their plight does not receive the attention it deserves and the law which protects them is frequently not observed. The aim of the ICRC in starting this study more than 2 years ago was to change that situation. The ICRC wants to see far greater awareness of the problems women face in armed conflict and to ensure that the protection afforded by law becomes a reality.

In 1999 the ICRC made a pledge at the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to make alleviating the plight of women in wartime one of its priorities. This study is one of the outcomes of that commitment, but it is only a beginning.