Forced migration and war exacerbate women's vulnerability

Judith Morán

They say all's fair in love and war. In the case of wars, this premise holds true: those who wage them don't hesitate to use access to fundamental rights like health and food as weapons. And the consequences don't affect everyone equally, since 80 percent of the victims of any war are women and children, stated Paul Newman, a professor at St. Joseph's University, based in India.

Newman, who has worked as an academic observer at the UN Human Rights Council, noted that one of the emerging areas in social sciences is forced migration and gender studies, in addition to climate change.

"The psychological traumas suffered by women are not documented so that researchers can study the depth to which war inflicts internal wounds."

The specialist in forced migration and genocide studies gave the lecture “Conflict, displacement and human security: geopolitical perspectives on forced migration and vulnerability with a gender focus” to students of the Bachelor's Degree in International Relations at ITESO.

In wars, she said, men are expected to go and defend their communities and their country, while women bear the responsibility of caring for the family. “During conflicts, she is the one who feeds the family; she may not eat herself, but her priority is feeding others.”

Amid the figures of missing persons and fatalities from the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009) or the Yazidi genocide (2014), Newman intertwined stories of atrocities experienced by women during these conflicts.

Child marriage, female genital mutilation, “honor” killings of women, and labor exploitation are some of the problems that most affect them, in addition to the fact that the camps are not safe for women and girls from the communities. “Women not only become objects of abuse, but during the war they become objects of trafficking,” said Newman. The academic added that there are cases of minors who were sold more than 20 times, and “many Europeans are also accused of war crimes in the case of the Yazidis.”

Newman showed that part of the economy of countries like the United States, Switzerland, and Sweden involves the manufacture of weapons.

“War is something imposed on women,” she stated, adding that the arms race is a major problem they must address, “since going to war is not a decision they make. It is men who decide on wars. It is men who determine which country should fight which other country.”

Among the women who have taken the initiative to negotiate and promote peace, the academic highlighted Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize; Yasmin Louise Sooka, lawyer and human rights activist; and Malala Yousafzai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17 for her activism for girls' education.

“Education is something women are deprived of. If they receive a good education, they will break free from the cycle of violence, from the cycle of harassment by men. That is where education is needed,” said the specialist, who urged support for women-led organizations, especially those run by refugees.

“We need to collect gender data, disaggregated data, and involve more researchers focused on women,” she concluded.