The Silenced Spoils of Conflict: Women and Girls with HIV/AIDS Transmitted from Sexual Violence During Armed Conflict

Across the globe today, there are over 110 ongoing armed conflicts. As much as the latest updates on armed conflicts dominate our screens and newspapers, there is a tendency to avoid topics deemed uncomfortable. One of the most notoriously silenced topics is the weaponization of bodies through conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).

Far too often, women’s and girls’ bodies are reduced to vehicles for political agendas. They are subjected to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriages, ‘survival sex’ and various other appalling forms of CRSV. The intent behind these deplorable sexual attacks is often to exert power over men, reducing women to collateral damage—mere tools in a broader strategy.

Among the many consequences of CRSV is the increased risk of HIV/AIDS, yet another topic met with silence.

The deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS through sexual violence can also serve as a weapon of war. In a 2004 report, Françoise Nduwimana wrote on CRSV during the Rwanda Genocide:

“The transmission of HIV/AIDS was a triply effective weapon in the eyes of genocidaires. A woman who had been raped and infected would be a potential source of contamination to her future partners, supposedly Tutsi; she would give birth to children who would have very limited chances of survival; and she should finally die, bringing several others with her.’’

CRSV and HIV/AIDS in South Sudan

According to Amnesty International, sexual violence has been ‘a persistent feature’ in South Sudan’s non-international armed conflict. In their report, the organization included four patterns that drive CRSV in South Sudan, described by the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS): “attacks linked to military and political objectives; sexual and other forms of abusive exploitation of women and girls who are abducted by members of armed groups; a culture of entitlement to women and girls as the spoils of conflict [.]’’

We do not know the true number of women and girls who have been victims of CRSV in South Sudan since there is no State body to gather accurate data. However, a 2022 report from the United Nations (UN) states that the Human Rights Commission “has amassed a considerable archive of conflict-related violence, focusing on rape, including gang rape, sexual violence, sexual slavery, forced marriage, torture and a range of sexually degrading cruel and inhuman acts and beatings.’’

With corroboration by medical professionals, the UN report indicated that the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) ‘appears to be common.’ The lack of consequences for perpetrators of CRSV and the tendency for post-rape interventions to be administered late likely contribute to the recurrence of sexually violent acts and the high rates of transmission in South Sudan. If contracting a deadly virus is not horrific enough, the report adds that young women have also been expelled from their families and abandoned by their husbands once returned by their rapists.

Disruptions to international humanitarian aid for HIV/AIDS relief will undoubtedly place thousands of lives in South Sudan at risk. The recent U.S. funding freeze on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for at least 90 days threatens significant negative impacts for South Sudanese women and girls who have contracted HIV/AIDS. The support of PEPFAR in South Sudan has been essential, yet only approximately 51% of people in the region with HIV are aware of their status, and just 47% are receiving treatment. Even if services are able to continue into April, the freezing of funding has left many regions in Africa in distressing over the uncertainty of future disruptions. The Director of the South Africa Medical Unit at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Southern Africa stressed: “HIV medicines must be taken daily, or people run the risk of developing resistance or deadly health complications.’’

Lack of Media Coverage and Medicine for Palestinians

The allegations of CRSV perpetrated by members of Hamas during its October 7th assault in Israel received extensive media coverage. The stories of these victims must not be discounted nor minimized, yet the stories of CRSV Inflicted upon Gazan and Palestinian victims are largely left out of mainstream media coverage. Testimonies from dozens of Palestinian women gathered by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor recount incidents of sexual harassment, violence, torture, rape threats and more during unlawful arrest and detention by the Israeli military. These are in addition to the great deal of testimony provided by Gazan men and women describing the nature of the sexual assaults.

Afeef Nessouli and Steven W. Thrasher, writing for The Intercept, highlighted the lack of HIV medication in Gaza and allegations from international aid groups that this medication has been blocked from entering the Gaza Strip, despite denials from Israel. The HIV incidence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is increasing, and without treatment, those infected are progressing towards AIDS. Nessouli and Thrasher warn that “with Gaza’s few hospitals targeted and largely destroyed—and with more than 1,000 of its health care workers killed and others detained—this is not an environment where any virus can be contained.’’ Their article additionally references recent documentation sourced from Russia’s war on Ukraine, reinforcing evidence that “wars have long exacerbated HIV transmission.”

What Do We Do from Here?

Patrick Commaert, former UN Division Commander for the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, said: ‘’It is perhaps more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict.’’ This danger extends beyond the atrocious acts of CRSV; it is deeply rooted in the wider social stigma that renders women and girls the silenced spoils of conflict.

As Resolution 1325 reaches its 25th anniversary, we must remember its call to action for States to take special measures to prevent rape, sexual abuse, and all forms of CRSV against women and girls. The resolution also emphasizes that states are responsible for ending incidents of CRSV, including prosecuting perpetrators. Part of this responsibility must include accepting the resolution’s invitation to conduct studies of the impact of armed conflict on women and girls to be made available to all Member States. Such a study would be a significant step towards meaningful, open discussions on CRSV and its role in the transmission of HIV/AIDS— discussions that will reduce barriers associated with social stigma and pave the way for actionable solutions.

As it stands, there is no justice for these women and girls whose attackers are often left unpunished, are threatened with abandonment, ignored by the media, deprived of essential health care, traumatized, dehumanized, and ultimately forced to live with the devastating effects of a deadly virus. Should they survive it at all, they do so at great cost, sometimes taking several others down with them.