Oslo, Norway, 25 September (IPS) – The battlefield is no longer far away; For millions of women it is next door. An estimated 676 million women – almost 17 percent of the global female population – lived within 50 kilometers of a fatal conflict last year, according to a new report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (Prio). That is the highest figure that has been recorded since the end of the Cold War.
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Women are at risk
2024 marked a historic peak in the exposure of women to armed conflict. The number of women who live in conflict zones is more than doubled compared to 1990, which reflects both the rising scale of worldwide violence and the increasing reach of conflicts in densely populated areas.
The study showed that last year around 245 million women lived in areas where conflicts caused more than 25 combat -related deaths, while 113 million women were in zones with more than 100 people.
Bangladesh registered the highest absolute number of exposed women, with almost 75 million living within 50 kilometers of conflict. The violence was mainly linked to national protests in July and August, which culminated in the expulsion of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, all women were hit, which means that very female populations were immediately exposed to fatal violence.
Living in the neighborhood of conflict zones has serious consequences for women’s lives. Armed conflict undermines inclusion, justice and safety, and is consistently associated with higher mother mortality, greater risks of violence, reduced access to education for girls and widening gender cak for work in employment.
These effects threaten the immediate safety of women, but also their well -being in the long term and economic prospects, which weakens the basis for recovery.
“Conflict does not only happen on the battlefield – it reaches in women’s houses, schools and workplaces and disrupts the basis of their lives,” said Prio research director Siri Aas Rustad, who is the author of the report. ‘Although some find new roles in the crisis, these opportunities are vulnerable. The harsh truth is that war broadens sex inexpensive and leaves women a greater risk. ‘
Regional variation
The report emphasizes striking regional and national differences. In Lebanon in 2024, 100 percent of the female population lived within 50 kilometers after a conflict event in which the death of 100 exceeded this means that all women in Lebanon are exposed to conflicts with high intensity.
Almost 80 percent of women live in the Palestinian territories in the vicinity of areas with more than 100 fatalities, with the other 20 percent living in conflict areas killed between 1 and 99. More than a third of women live close to zones with more than 1,000 deaths. Syria shows a similarly serious pattern, in which most women are exposed to medium and intensity conflicts.
In Nigeria, the report reveals that women in the state of Borno have to deal with special intensity violence related to Boko Haram and the Islamic State, while women in the South South region are increasingly influenced by separatist violence.
Long -lasting toll
The development costs of the impact on women are in -depth. Countries with a large part of the women who live near a conflict score consistently lower on the human development index of the United Nations, which underline the long -term effects of violence in education, health and resources of existence.
Long -term conflicts, often overshadowed by more visible wars, eroding steadily and economic structures. At the same time, the cutbacks in international aid threaten to further weaken the infrastructure and to deepen the vulnerabilities
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (Prio) is a worldwide leading institute for the study of peace and conflicts. Through advanced research, Prio investigates the factors of violence and the conditions that make peaceful relationships between states, groups and individuals possible.
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