'Intolerable and Alarming': Proportion of Women Killed in War Doubled in 2023

The proportion of women killed in wars doubled last year compared with 2022 figures, with women comprising 4 out of every 10 conflict zone deaths around the world, according to a report published Tuesday by the United Nations.

U.N. Women, the agency behind the report, also found that cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the world body increased by 50% in 2023.

"These increases in deaths during war and in violence against women are taking place against a backdrop of increasing blatant disregard of international law designed to protect women and children during war," U.N. Women said.

"For example," the agency continued, "women in war zones are also increasingly suffering from restricted access to healthcare. Every day, 500 women and girls in conflict-affected countries die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. By the end of 2023, 180 women were giving birth every day in war-torn Gaza—most without necessities or medical care."

Earlier this year, the U.N. Security Council released a report estimating that 33,433 civilians including at least 13,337 women were killed in conflict zones around the world in 2023, a 72% increase from the previous year.

The vast bulk of these deaths occurred in Gaza, from which Hamas launched the deadliest-ever attack on a single day against Israel on October 7, 2023. The report states Hamas militants killed at least 280 women that day while abducting at least 90 other women and 36 children. The publication does not say how many Israeli women or children were killed by so-called "friendly fire" that day or under Israel's Hannibal Directive, which authorizes fratricide to prevent Israelis from falling into enemy hands.

Since October 7, more than 152,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed or wounded, including more than 10,000 people who are missing and believed to be dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out buildings. According to Gaza and international officials, more than 5,000 women and 10,000 children were killed in the embattled coastal enclave between October 7 and the end of 2023.

Israel is on trial for alleged acts of genocide at the International Court of Justice over its conduct in Gaza.

The report details the dire situation in Sudan, "which already had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world before the outbreak of the armed conflict in April 2023," and where "2.64 million women and girls of reproductive age are now in need of urgent assistance, including 260,000 pregnant women."

"Amid reports of widespread sexual violence, most victims were unable to access the necessary medical care during the first 72 hours after being raped, including post-exposure prophylaxis or emergency contraception, and the United Nations received reports of victims of rape having been denied an abortion because it was outside of the timeline allowed for by law," the publication notes.

The new report also notes "a lack of overall progress on women's full, equal, and meaningful participation in peace processes."

"Preliminary data from the analysis of over 50 processes indicate that in 2023, on average, women made up only 9.6% of negotiators, 13.7% of mediators, and 26.6% of signatories to peace agreements and cease-fire agreements," the publication states. "The data show little progress over the past decade. None of the peace agreements reached in 2023 included a women's group or representative as a signatory."

U.N. Women Executive Director Sima Bahous lamented that "women continue to pay the price of the wars of men."

"This is happening in the context of a larger war on women," she continued. "The deliberate targeting of women's rights is not unique to conflict-affected countries but is even more lethal in those settings."

"We are witnessing the weaponization of gender equality on many fronts," Bahous added. "If we do not stand up and demand change, the consequences will be felt for decades, and peace will remain elusive."