Each year on International Women’s Day, we celebrate the achievements of women and renew the call for equality. But this day should also remind us of a brutal truth: during genocide and mass atrocities, women and girls are often deliberately targeted in ways that magnify the destruction of entire communities.
Genocide is not only about killing large numbers of people. It is also about destroying a group’s ability to survive and rebuild. Because women play central roles as caregivers, cultural transmitters, and mothers of the next generation, perpetrators frequently target women’s bodies, safety, and reproductive autonomy as a strategy to dismantle a people.
Sexual Violence as a Tool of Destruction
Across many genocides, sexual violence is used systematically to terrorize populations and fracture communities.
During the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, hundreds of thousands of women were raped, often by militias who were encouraged to use sexual violence as a tool of ethnic destruction. Survivors were left with lasting trauma, stigma, and severe health consequences.
This pattern continues today. In western Sudan, militias associated with the Rapid Support Forces have been widely accused by human rights groups of using rape and sexual violence as weapons against non-Arab communities during the ongoing conflict in Darfur. Survivors describe systematic assaults, abductions, and attacks intended to terrorize families and drive entire populations from their homes.
Sexual violence in these contexts is not incidental. It is often a calculated strategy designed to destroy communities from within.
The Rohingya: Gendered Atrocities and Forced Displacement
Women were also disproportionately targeted during the military campaign against the Rohingya population in Myanmar.
Investigations by the United Nations documented widespread gang rape, sexual slavery, and the burning of villages during the 2017 campaign that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh.
Many survivors reported soldiers specifically targeting women and girls during attacks on villages. The violence not only traumatized individuals but also left thousands of women raising children in refugee camps while coping with the physical and psychological aftermath of sexual violence.
The Uyghurs: Reproductive Control and Family Separation
In China’s Xinjiang region, the persecution of the Uyghurs has also included policies that disproportionately affect women.
Reports from researchers, journalists, and international organizations have documented forced sterilizations, coerced birth control, and intrusive reproductive monitoring targeting Uyghur women. These policies are particularly alarming because the legal definition of genocide includes “measures intended to prevent births within the group,” as outlined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Women have also described separation from children, detention in camps, and surveillance that deeply disrupts family life and cultural continuity.
Why Women Are Targeted in Genocide
The targeting of women in genocide is not random. It reflects the strategic logic of perpetrators.
Women sustain families, pass down language and culture, and give birth to future generations. Attacking women—through rape, forced pregnancy, sterilization, or displacement—can weaken the social fabric of an entire community.
The impact extends far beyond the individual survivor. Families are fractured, children are orphaned or displaced, and communities struggle to rebuild after the violence ends.
Women as Leaders in Survival and Justice
Despite the immense harm they face, women are also at the forefront of survival and resistance.
Women survivors often lead efforts to document atrocities, advocate for justice, and rebuild their communities after violence. Their testimony has transformed international law by forcing courts and international institutions to recognize sexual violence as a core component of genocidal campaigns.
From Rohingya refugee camps to Uyghur diaspora activism to women documenting atrocities in Darfur, women continue to lead the fight for accountability.
International Women’s Day Must Include Women in Conflict
On International Women’s Day, honoring women means recognizing not only their achievements but also the dangers they face during humanity’s worst crimes.
Genocide prevention and accountability efforts must take gendered violence seriously. Protecting women from targeted atrocities is not a side issue—it is central to protecting entire communities.
Because when genocidal regimes seek to destroy a people, they often begin by targeting the women. And when communities rebuild, it is often women who lead the way forward.
