"As populations become more technologized, the weapons used in conflicts have become more advanced," said Rev. Nicqi Ashwood, WCC programme executive for Just Community of Women and Men, introducing the session.
"More and more innocent people, especially women and children, have fallen victim to unadulterated violence—weaponized and rendered statistics," she said.
Still, despite the impact of war on their lives and livelihoods, women have not always featured in peace negotiations, speakers noted.
Justice as viewed by victims
Oleksandra Matviichuk heads the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, which also won the 2022 Right Livelihood Award. She said that after documenting war crimes for nine years, she saw that victims see justice differently.
"At present in Russian-war hit Ukraine, I found myself in a situation where the law doesn't work. Today, we're speaking about women and children in the types of war, and it's hard to discuss. Russia uses war crimes as a method of warfare," said Matviichuk.
Russian troops had "deliberately destroyed" residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, organized forced deportations, arrested parents, and sent children for adoption to Russian families with "genocidal intent,” she said. "Occupation means torture, sexual violence, forced disappearances, detention, camps, denial of your identity, or civil adoption of your own child and mass rapes."
When war crimes are committed, the hurt extends beyond the victims. “Their family and neighbors feel guilt because they cannot stop it, and other members of the community feel fear,” Matviichu said. “They also try to fight for human rights and human dignity in circumstances when the law doesn’t work.”
Turning to justice, Matviichuk said that for some victims, justice means seeing their perpetrators put behind bars. “For other victims, justice means to get representation…and for others to be publicly heard."
Answering a question, Matviichuk said it's essential to involve women in all stages of the peace process, not just for themselves, but for their children to prove that "they are also human beings.”
Impact of sexual violence
Thomas Tongun Leone, a medical doctor and coordinator of the Catholic Health Commission of South Sudan, spoke of sexual violence that has plagued Africa's newest country in recent civil conflicts.
He said that the sexual violence which is known about in South Sudan is "deliberate and intended to punish and humiliate people and their communities.
"It can include rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced marriage, and many other forms," said the South Sudan doctor.
"Sexual violence affects the health of those who experience it, damaging their life experiences," said Leone.
"In physical health, survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence experienced immediate and long-term physical injuries and face the prospect of being at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases."
Survivors also suffer psychologically. He said South Sudan needs a trauma healing centre to help people who are survivors of sexual violence or other conflicts in the country.
"Coming out of war, we have many traumatized people,” he said.
Joy Eva Bohol, regional migration specialist-Europe, of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, told participants there are more than 17,000 refugees and migrants on the ancient islands around Greece such as Lesbos and Samos.
"So far this year 2,563 people are estimated by the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) to have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, European borders are secured or rather shut for several thousand kilometres.”
"That's worrying for so many people who left places of war and conflict and those who were displaced due to climate change, facing a series of horrific episodes of abuse at the border.
"Women and children are the most vulnerable in these situations.”
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