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What is the role of women in war—the victims, those impacted by it, and the active participants?
Women and children are considered among the most vulnerable groups, especially during times of war. They are often the victims of armed conflict, and in addition to armed violence, they also suffer from targeted violence—this includes rape, assault, and sexual harassment. This type of abuse is resorted to in order to blackmail victims’ relatives and extract confessions from them.
Holding women captive was also a prevalent war tactic in ancient societies, which considered women to be spoils of war. This is still deeply rooted in the collective imaginary of modern peoples. The most prominent manifestation of this is the type of acts classified as gender-based violence, in all its forms. This can be observed today, in the midst of the ongoing war being waged on Gaza by the Zionist entity, where news has circulated about rape and other acts of violence committed against women because they are women. Despite this, women play an important role in building peace and resisting wars, a role made evident by many of the practices, actions, and tasks that women undertake in conflict zones. These roles can be divided into different categories. There are the social roles, which include providing care to war victims by providing first aid to the injured, collecting financial aid for affected families, sheltering affected families, providing food and drink, taking care of children, and other similar practices.
There are also the political and militant roles—most notably, engaging in protests in support of peace and ending war. Women may participate in negotiations or in subcommittees to support fighters and the defenders of the right to self-determination. They also engage in civil society organizations and organize anti-war campaigns in defense of human rights, calling for the implementation of international agreements or the Fourth Geneva Convention.
In general, women play many different roles during times of war, and their voices can have a significant impact, especially since many international agreements guarantee them special rights and prevent gender-based discrimination. As civilians, women must also be protected during any armed conflict; the Geneva Conventions criminalize attacks on civilians, regardless of description.
How would you describe the historical role of women in the Red Cross over time, noting the massive sacrifices women made for relief and humanitarian assistance after the First and Second World Wars?
First, the Red Cross was founded in 1859 in the city of Solferino, in northern Italy, thanks to the efforts of a Swiss citizen named Jean-Henri Dunant: he called for the formation of peacetime relief associations that would include male and female nurses to care for those wounded in war, and these nurses would be recognized as volunteers in the field of medical service. He also called for them to be recognized under an international agreement.
After the first nucleus of the Red Cross was formed in 1863 during an international conference in which 12 countries and four women’s associations participated, its role in the field began to emerge, and this culminated in the adoption of the first convention of international humanitarian law, the First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, issued in 1864. Efforts continued to expand the scope of international humanitarian law to include other categories of victims, such as prisoners of war and civilians.
Following World War II, a diplomatic conference involving several countries was held, and it was during this conference that the Four Geneva Conventions were adopted, in 1949, to bolster the protection of civilians in times of war.
Two protocols were annexed to these agreements in 1977: the Four Geneva Conventions and Two Additional Protocols are the foundations of international humanitarian law known as the law of war. Within this activity of the International Committee of the Red Cross, women also had a major role. From the very beginning, they participated in its foundation, and they were also part of relief operations through the branches established in all countries, whether under the name of the Cross or the Red Crescent.
For example, the women of the Egyptian Red Crescent played a prominent role during the 1948 war: Red Crescent volunteers collected donations for Palestinians, supervised a refugee camp, provided blankets, clothes, and living supplies, taught children to read and write… I mention this example to illustrate some of the recurring roles of women volunteers in the Red Cross or Red Crescent. These are roles we still see today in the war in Gaza.
“International double standards have been made clear as day when it comes to applying international human rights and international humanitarian law.”
Armed violence including murder and rape affects women especially. Why do women always pay this monstrous price of war? Now in Sudan, rape has also been turned into a weapon of war in the armed militia conflict.
What has been happening recently in Sudan, the widespread rape crimes, is certainly an example of the heavy price that women pay in times of war. At the same time, it is also a weapon directed at the aggressors, as rape is criminalized in international and national law. Rape is horrific, and this also blows back on the criminal party to the conflict and weakens it because rape is a punishable war crime, whether in the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, whose rulings are considered binding for states or individuals that commit such crimes. Rape is among the most condemned crimes, internationally and nationally.
War oppresses women, but do you see justice for them in peace processes?
In general, I don’t see any justice in peace processes, especially today now that international double standards have been made clear as day when it comes to applying international human rights and international humanitarian law in the Palestinian liberation war that has been raging for 75 years. The Zionist entity, which does not recognize all United Nations international agreements, violated the law of war during the ongoing armed conflict that began on October 7, 2023: it directly targeted civilians, including women, children, the elderly, and others, with the intention of committing inhumane genocide. How could peace processes with such a brutal enemy be fair to women? This is only a rhetorical question, but it shows the lack of confidence in the international mechanisms in place today. The mechanisms are defective, and it is on the UN member states to review them. No review will be possible without the pressure that can be exerted by people and civil society institutions all over the world.
How do you read childbirth in the context of the war on Palestinians, and does it constitute an act of resistance?
Occupation and genocide are naturally contrasted with procreation. No matter how hard the Zionist enemy insists on annihilating the Palestinian subject, the defenders of their land also insist on staying, on continuing. As such, procreation is indeed an act of resistance; it represents the continuation of the existence and the perpetuation of Palestinian lineage. I believe that the high rate of childbirth in Palestine is a defensive strategy within the framework of a public, popular policy adopted in the Palestinian territories. In other words, it is an act that is carried out consciously, that springs from deep thought about possible forms of resistance.