War is Becoming Deadlier for Women and Girls
Author: Maya Mortenson
November 4, 2026
HRRC calls for increased protection of women and girls in conflict through upholding international law and ending impunity for perpetrators of gender-based crimes. HRRC additionally calls for greater participation of women in peace processes and greater investment in women-led organizations in conflict zones.
![Girls walking through rubble in Syria [Image credit: Ahmed Akacha/Pexels]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f05ed1_097bd5f2f146409baaf002446888a6f8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/f05ed1_097bd5f2f146409baaf002446888a6f8~mv2.jpg)
The UN Secretary-General’s annual report has stated that war is becoming deadlier for women and girls. In 2025, 37,000 civilians were killed in conflict zones, and one in four was a woman or girl. This proportion has doubled since 2021, when one in eight civilians killed was a woman or child.
The number of conflicts around the globe is increasing, with 2026 having the greatest number of active armed conflicts recorded since 1945. This increase in armed conflict has led to an increase in challenges for women and girls. Around 20% of women and girls now live within 50 kilometres of an active conflict.
Armed conflict tends to have different and disproportionate effects on women and girls. More women are forced to flee their homes, leave school or work, and experience poverty and hunger in war. Two-thirds of working-age women in countries experiencing conflict are unemployed, as opposed to only one-third of men. Women in conflict zones are twice as likely to experience extreme poverty. Conflict additionally has disastrous consequences for women’s health. In 2023, around 160,000 women died from preventable maternal causes in conflict or fragile settings, and women giving birth in countries experiencing conflict are five times as likely to die of maternity-related causes.
Sexual violence is a tactic used worldwide in conflict that is increasing in scope and being used systematically by male perpetrators. UN-verified cases of sexual violence in conflict zones quadrupled between 2022 and 2025. In Haiti, cases of sexual violence increased by 163 percent in 2025, and in Sudan, throughout the conflict’s first three years, the number of sexual violence survivors needing support quadrupled.
Women’s organizations that work to provide things like survivor protection and psychosocial and economic support are experiencing hardship. A UN Women survey found that forty percent of women’s organizations in crisis settings expect to shut down within the next year due to cuts in funding.
Evidence shows that women play a critical role in achieving and maintaining peace worldwide. Studies have found that when women signatories are included in peace agreements, they have higher rates of implementation and last longer. However, in peacebuilding processes, women continue to be underrepresented. Women made up just five percent of negotiators in 57 peace processes around the world in 2025. This is a seven percent decrease from 2024. In addition, only nineteen percent of peace agreements created in 2025 have at least one reference to women, girls, or sexual or gender-related violence. Out of the 13 ceasefire agreements made in 2025, zero specifically prohibited conflict-related sexual violence. To achieve peace worldwide, states and international institutions must ensure women’s representation and include gender-sensitive recommendations in peace processes.
Glossary
Civilian: One not on active duty in the armed services or not on a police or firefighting force.
Conflict-related sexual violence: Rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.
Disproportionate: Too large or too small in comparison to something else.
Gender-based violence: Violence directed against a person because of that person's gender or violence that affects persons of a particular gender disproportionately.
Impunity: Exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss.
International law: A set of rules and principles governing the relations and conduct of sovereign states with each other, as well as with international organizations and individuals.
Maternity: The quality or state of being a mother.
Negotiator: Someone who tries to help two groups who disagree to reach an agreement with each other, usually as a job.
Perpetrator: Someone who has committed a crime or a violent or harmful act.
Poverty: The state of one who lacks a sufficient amount of money or material possessions.
Proportion: The relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree.
Psychosocial: Having both psychological and social parts.
Scope: The extent of treatment, activity, or influence.
Signatory: A person, organization, or country that has signed an agreement.
Quadruple: To make four times as great or as many.
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