Jump to Body Text

Other—Systemic/legal violence—articles

articles • bibliographies • courses • events • funding opportunities • jobs • multimedia • organizations • research centers • service providers • training

Gender Approaches in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations (pdf)

added 03/25/2003

This manual aims to increase effectiveness of humanitarian and recovery interventions through integration of a gender perspective in conflict and post-conflict situations. It includes a chart to depict different levels of possible gender violence dimensions along the timeline of pre-conflict and post-conflict.

Gender-Based Violence Tools Manual: For Assessment & Program Design, Monitoring & Evaluation in Conflict-Affected Settings

added 06/07/2005
Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium

This report intends to improve international and local capacities when addressing gender-based violence in refugee, internally-displaced and conflict settings.

Helping Children Cope with the Stresses of War: A Manual for Parents and Teachers (pdf)

added 03/18/2009
Mona Macksoud, UNICEF

"A tool for parents and teachers in helping children cope with the stresses of war and other forms of systematic violence. This book provides illustrative drawings by children portraying experiences of stress. Guidelines on handling problematic behaviors with which children of various ages respond to stress are also provided."

Just Die Quietly: Domestic Violence and Women's Vulnerability to HIV in Uganda

added 10/01/2003

The accounts in this report reveal that Ugandan women are becoming infected with HIV, and will eventually die of AIDS, because the state is failing to protect them from domestic violence. The report informs us that HIV/AIDS programs focusing on fidelity, abstinence, and condom use do not account for the ways in which domestic violence inhibits women's control over sexual matters in marriage. The report urges the Ugandan government to enact domestic violence legislation, and to make women's health, physical integrity, and equal rights in marriage a central focus of AIDS programming.

Other formats: html

License to Rape: The Burmese Military Regime's Use of Sexual Violence in the Ongoing War in Shan State

added 07/29/2002

This report details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001. The report reveals that the Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnic peoples of Shan State. The report illustrates there is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the form of sexual violence, have occurred and continue to occur in Shan State.

Lives Blown Apart: Crimes Against Women in Times of Conflict

added 12/08/2004

This report attempts to explore some of the underlying reasons for this violence. Evidence gathered by Amnesty International in recent years supports the view that conflict reinforces and exacerbates existing patterns of discrimination and violence against women.

Other formats: pdf

More Than A Name: State Sponsored Homophobia and Its Consequences in Southern Africa (pdf)

added 02/23/2004
Human Rights Watch and The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

This report evaluates the effects of State-sponsored homophobia on the human rights of sexual and gender minorities in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Progress of the World's Women 2000

added 04/07/2009

UNIFEM's first issue in the biennial investigation of progress made towards a world where women live free from violence, poverty and inequality. Topics covered include women's economic security and rights, engendering governance and leadership and promoting women's human rights.

Progress of the World's Women 2002, Volume 2: Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals

added 04/07/2009
Diane Elson (University of Essex) Hanke Keklik (UNIFEM)

This is the second edition of a biennial publication to track and measure the world's commitment to gender equality. It examines progress for women, or the lack of it, in education, literacy, non-agricultural wage employment and parliamentary representation.

Report on the Taliban's War Against Women

added 12/05/2001

Released November 17, 2001. Includes an Executive Summary, information on the Taliban's War Against Women; quotes by and about women in Afghanistan; and electronic resources on women in Afghanistan.

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in the Americas (pdf)

added 03/12/2004
Andrew Reding

This document highlights the human rights violations (institutional and individual) of sexual minorities in the Americas.

Sexual Victimization in Indian Country: Barriers and Resources for Native Women Seeking Help

added 07/07/2004
Sherry L. Hamby, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor,

This paper summarizes the barriers facing and resources available to American Indian victims of sexual victimization, with a focus on systemic barriers found in the organizations and communities most likely to serve native women. Additionally, the paper reviews how an understanding of these issues can enhance services and help eliminate violence against future generations of American Indian women.

Other formats: plaintext • pdf

Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada

added 10/19/2004
Amnesty International

This report examines the role of discrimination in acts of violence carried out against Indigenous women in Canadian towns and cities. This discrimination takes the form both of overt cultural prejudice and of implicit or systemic biases in the policies and actions of government officials and agencies, or of society as a whole. This discrimination has played out in policies and practices that have helped put Indigenous women in harm’s way and in the failure to provide Indigenous women the protection from violence that is every woman’s human right.

Other formats: pdf

The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls (pdf)

added 03/14/2003

This report of a consultative meeting is intended to contribute to the United Nations study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls, requested by the United Nations Security Council. This report reflects the purpose of the meeting which was twofold: first, to examine and explore the impact of armed conflict on women and girls; and, second, to formulate strategies and tools to ensure that reproductive health programmes accurately reflect this population’s needs, specifically by addressing them through a comprehensive, gendersensitive approach.

The Right to Survive: Sexual Violence, Women and HIV/AIDS

added 06/22/2005
Françoise Nduwimana

This report describes the unparalleled situation experienced by women who were raped and infected with HIV/AIDS during the Rwandan genocide.

Other formats: pdf

The War Within the War: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo

added 03/05/2003

This report documents the frequent and sometimes systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Rwandan-occupied areas of eastern Congo. This report focuses on crimes of sexual violence committed by soldiers and other combatants. But rape and other sexual crimes are not just carried out by armed factions but also increasingly by police and others in positions of authority and power, and by opportunistic common criminals and bandits, taking advantage of the prevailing climate of impunity and the culture of violence against women and girls.

Trapped by Inequality: Bhutanese Refugee Women in Nepal

added 10/01/2003

Following investigations of sexual exploitation and abuse by aid workers in refugee camps in West Africa, several cases of sexual exploitation involving refugee aid workers surfaced in Nepal in October 2002. This report highlights not only the hardship of life in refugee camps, but also the injustice of gender-based violence and discrimination for Bhutanese refugee women in Nepal.

Other formats: pdf

Walking a Tightrope: The Many Faces of Violence in the Lives of Racialized Immigrant Girls and Young Women

added 09/30/2008
Yasmin Jiwani

"This article explores a hidden yet pervasive form of violence that marks the lives of young women from racialized immigrant communities in western Canada. The article suggests that racism constitutes a significant form of structural violence experienced by these young women. The author argues for an intersectional analysis that takes into consideration their heightened vulnerability to systemic and institutional forms of violence."

We'll Kill You If You Cry: Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone Conflict

added 03/05/2003

The report presents evidence of horrific abuses against women and girls in every region of Sierra Leone by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as other rebel, government and international peacekeeping forces. The report is based on hundreds of interviews with victims, witnesses and officials, details crimes of sexual violence committed primarily by soldiers of various rebel forces —the RUF, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the West Side Boys. The report also examines sexual violence by government forces and militias, as well as international peacekeepers.

Women at the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Ecuador (pdf)

added 04/08/2009
Gloria Camacho Zambrano, UNIFEM

"The study looks at the differential impact of armed conflict on women and men. Women in Colombia represent more than half of the total displaced population and suffer the consequences of conflict to a higher degree putting them in a more vulnerable situation than men. This study analyzes the situation of women that are legally recognized as refugees as well as the experiences of women who have been pressured to migrate by army movements because of their country situation." This publication is printed in Spanish.

Women in Mongolia: Mapping Progress under Transition

added 04/07/2009
Nalini Burn, Oyuntsetseg Oidov, UNIFEM

This publication tells of Mongolian women's experiences in the context of the political and economic transformation of their country. It shares reports of women encouraged to bear many children, inadequate health care or resources, and high rates of maternal mortality. Recommendations informed through case studies are presented for improving their social and economic status and increasing their political participation.

Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post-Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

added 12/12/2007
Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D.

This report shares findings garnered from a series of interviews held with a diverse group of women from throughout the Gulf region. In telling their stories, it provides an analysis of women's increased vulnerability during times of natural disasters and lays out policy recommendations that pinpoint how best to address those needs in the wake of this disaster, and in anticipation of the next.

Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women's Role in Peace Building

added 11/19/2002

This report covers many areas of concern, from the gender dimensions of violence and displacement during conflict to the role of peacekeepers and the need for women to play a central part during peace negotiations and reconstruction. Key recommendations focus on finding ways to protect and empower women.