Women and the Missing: living between hope and despair

29-02-2008 Photo Collection

Women and the Missing: living between hope and despair

A large majority of those who disappear or are killed in armed conflict or other situations of violence are men, and thus the burden and anguish of clarifying their fate falls to the women left behind. This collection of images and text describes the ordeals women face when their male relatives go missing and what the ICRC is doing to support them.

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© ICRC / D. Sansoni / lk-e-00277

Sri Lanka. Portrait of a woman who has just received a Red Cross message with news of a loved one who had gone missing.

Far too often, the parties in an armed conflict make little effort to shed light on the fate of missing persons and support their families. States have the obligation under international humanitarian law to take the necessary measures to clarify the fate of missing persons and inform the family of their fate. The ICRC and National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies accept tracing requests from families who have had no news from their relatives during armed conflicts, and try to locate the person by all possible means.

Bosnia

Nepal