Violence Against Women: Conflict, Economic Hardship, and Violence at a Personal Level Bring Rape, AIDS, and Other Hardships

Lane Vanderslice

One of the stories of our times, unfortunately, is violence against women. Conflict, economic hardship, and violence at a personal level (between husbands and wives, men and women in relationships, and as individual acts by men) bring rape, HIV/AIDS and other hardships to women.

The aftermath of conflict can result in women being raped by soldiers and others of the victorious side, though this should be forbidden. Though the UN has passed resolutions against the practice of rape during and after war, it has apparently made little impact.

The November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women marked the beginning of "16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence against Women." (November 25, 2004)

Violence Against Women In Colombia  William Spindler and Jennifer Clark UNHCR November 25, 2004 

Rape Used as Weapon of War Around the World, UN Told  Pakistan Times (October 30,2004)

Photo: BBC

Rape survivors are often ostracized by their communities.

Sudanese Rape Victims Find Justice Blind To Plight  Emily Wax  Washington Post November 8, 2004 (You will leave this site and be required to register [once] with the Post.)

Sudan To Check Every New African Union Soldier for AIDS  Sudan Tribune October 27, 2004 (You will leave this site.)

In the next article, human rights groups say there has been a systematic campaign of rape in Darfur, intended to humiliate and punish non-Arab groups.

'Ethnic Cleansing' in Darfur by Sudan's Shadowy Arab Militia BBC April 9, 2004 (You will leave this site)

In the following article, Amnesty International reports on rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Men Fighting In the DR Congo Have Raped 40,000 Women, Amnesty International Says  BBC News October 20, 2004 (You will leave this site.)

Rwandan soldiers, shown here, are to be sent to the Sudan. The HIV infection rate is very high in Rwanda, especially among single young men.

Due to extreme poverty and lack of employment opportunities in normal economic activity, women, who are frequently single and frequently need to support children as well, engage in sexual activity in exchange for income. This can take various forms, sleeping with one or a few men, working as a 'bar girl" and sleeping with some of the clients, or more or less explicit prostitution. In these situations they are subject to infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, which are all too frequent in many developing countries. Sexual networks transmit venereal disease, and the more a woman or her partners have sex with others, the greater the risk to all.

Number of Women Living with HIV Increases in Each Region of the World UNAIDS and WHO November 23, 2004

Economic vulnerability subjects women to what might reasonably be understood as predation by men.  The following two stories illustrate this.

Sixty Percent of Tanzanian Maids, Often Very Young Women, Are Being Sexually Abused, Study Finds Daniel Dickinson (BBC, Dar es Salaam. You will leave this site.)

The Sudan story below illuminates the fact of the danger of "consensual" sexual relations (which are based on economic need on the woman's part).  Rwandan peacekeepers are sent to Sudan to protect those in Darfur from militia that have been attacking them. Off-duty Rwandan soldiers may well seek sex, but unfortunately the HIV infection rate among Rwandans is very high, so that women in Darfur that have sex with these soldiers are exposed to HIV infection, and many be infected and develop AIDS.

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