In addition to the disappearance of a loved one, many women in situations of conflict suffer other traumatic events such as displacement, threats to their lives, rape or other physical violence. In armed conflicts and other situations of violence, many women are raped by soldiers. Some become pregnant. Often they try to hide what happened to them, as in many cases the victim’s community stigmatizes both the woman and the child ─ the woman, because she has been raped and thereby is considered to have brought dishonour on the family and the child, because it has been sired by the ‘enemy’.

The ICRC offers them assistance according to their needs, including medical treatment, as well as psychosocial and economic support. Associations and family networks can likewise play a major role by providing these women and their community with collective support.