UNICEF: 80% of persons displaced by armed conflict are women and children

MANILA, Philippines – Some 80 percent of internally displaced persons (IDPs) caused by armed conflicts in the country are women and children, according to a study commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In the study made by Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), the women and children displaced by internal conflicts are considered inevitable “spoils of war.”

It also said that women suffer undue stress brought by armed conflict since they are most affected by the hostilities.

They incur stress-related illnesses due to distress, anxieties and frustrations while many suffer sleeplessness and nightmares, the CWR said.

“The real picture of the military operations in Mindanao is of mothers and their children scurrying for safety, frightened, and crowded in evacuation centers,” said Jojo Guan, executive director of CWR.

CWR warned the raging hostilities between the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mindanao would not only disrupt lives and dislocate women and children from their community and livelihood sources, but also pose grave health risks.

As part of the study on the effects of militarization on women and children, the UNICEF-CWR paper said pregnant women would suffer miscarriage and in some cases, premature birth.

The CWR study further noted women and children displaced by the fighting get sick in evacuation centers due to congestion and unsanitary conditions.

In some instances, the adverse conditions in evacuation centers even lead to infant deaths.

“The government places the total number of people displaced by armed conflict between 2000 and 2007 at 2.1 million,” Guan pointed out.

“In January to August 2008, an estimated 190,000 people were displaced, add to that the 160,000 people recently displaced due to the ongoing conflict in Mindanao.”

The CWR study mentioned an “observed tendency toward longer-term displacements” in armed conflict-affected areas, as more civilians prefer not to return to the locations of their previous homes.

The study noted that human security in the armed conflict areas has also deteriorated as a result of militarization.

The study said displacement leads to further violence against women where they are forced to head the household after the breakdown of a family and social networks.

Women might also be particularly at risk of sexual violence, as some of them are sometimes forced to prostitution in exchange for food, shelter or protection.

Human trafficking and rape are the other unfortunate by-products of war that women fall victim to, the CWR said.

“Women and children are already in danger—with the present economic crisis, the threat of poverty and hunger is very real. The longer their condition is not alleviated, the more they are at risk,” CWR said.

Guan said the government should work on alleviating the widespread poverty that is most felt by women and children.