Women & International Humanitarian Law

In order to understand the basic and the foremost characteristic of the

International Humanitarian Law is that it protects the individuals from the
consequences of armed conflicts. It safeguards the interest of individuals in
order to protect them from monstrosities. It is applicable in international as
well non-international armed conflicts and is also binding in both States and
armed opposition groups.

There are distinct laws which give a reasonable framework for protection of
women. For instance, Geneva Laws, Additional Protocol & International
Criminal Court. Multilateral conventions dealing with specific aspects of the
waging of war have existed since the end of the nineteenth century. Today, the
principal instruments of international humanitarian law are the four Geneva
Conventions of 1949,1 their two Additional Protocols of 1977 - the first
applicable in international conflicts and the second in non-international
conflicts2- and numerous conventions restricting or prohibiting the use of
specific weapons, such as the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons and its four Protocols and the 1997 Convention on Anti-personnel
Mines.3

1
First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the
Field, 1949 (GC I); Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, and
Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, 1949 (GC II); Third Geneva Convention relative to the
Treatment of Prisoners of War, 1949 (GC III) and Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949 (GC IV)

2
Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of
International Armed Conflicts, 1977 (AP I) and Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, 1977 (AP II).

3
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be
Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, 1980 (the Conventional Weapons
Convention); Protocol I on Non-Detectable Fragments, 1980; Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the
Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices, 1980, as amended in 1996; Protocol III on Prohibitions or
Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons, 1980, and Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons, 1995;
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on
their Destruction, 1997 (the Anti-personnel Mines Convention). See also the Protocol for the Prohibition of the
Use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, 1925 (the 1925
Gas Protocol); Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of
Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, 1972; Convention on the Prohibition
of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, 1976; and Convention on the
Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their
Destruction, 1993 (the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention). Finally, also of great importance to the
enforcement of international humanitarian law is the Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted in
1998.
Mention should also be made of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols, the first
of 1954 and the second of 1999. 5 At the time of writing there are 189 States
party to the four Geneva Conventions and 159 and 151 to Additional Protocols I
and II respectively. These frameworks provide personal safety to women where
there is grave danger to their lives and they are prone to being tortured and are
likely to be treated inhumanly in order to overcome such barriers certain
frameworks were introduced which broadly talk about the rights of women and
whenever lack of compassion is seen in people, these frameworks come into
picture which assures them certain rights. It also protects women from the acts
of sexual violence, displacement, gives them the freedom of movement and
right to food and essential household items, sources of livelihood, water, shelter,
health, hygiene and sanitization, preserves family links, gives women an access
to education and information, they are also free to practice ant religious and
cultural practices, they have a right to legal remedies, accommodation, food and
water, treatment and safety, health and medical care, educational, recreational
and work programs, judicial guarantee is also given to women.

These rights are given to women in order to protect them from every kind of
atrocity. These frameworks make sure that women, in particular, are not
deprived of these rights and are given proper protection. Women are considered
as protected persons under international humanitarian laws which therefore
entitles them to undeniable rights which can be availed by them in the times of
need. Women and children are protected from salacious assault and hostilities.
They are given political, socio-economic protection against armed conflicts
where it is made sure that their interest is protected.

Women and men have different roles and responsibilities in society which are
socially and culturally determined, and consequently they also experience
armed conflict in “gendered” ways. It is important to recognize these
differences and to adapt responses and activities accordingly, while at the same
time avoiding portrayal of women solely as victims or vulnerable individuals
and recognizing their traditional role as well as the fact that this role is changing
in nature owing to armed conflict.

The ICRC’s mandates to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed
conflict and internal disturbances and to provide them with assistance, and to
act as promoter and guardian of international humanitarian law.

International & Non-International Armed Conflict

The concept of International Humanitarian Law is based on jus ad bello which
is defined as the law of war. There is a requirement of the political will of the
States for a state of affairs to be regarded as an armed conflict. The IHL makes
it very clear what an armed conflict is. There is a proper definition of the same
under the Geneva Convention of 1949 (Common Article 2), which states that –

“All cases of declared war or of any armed conflict that may arise between two
or more high contracting parties, even if the state of war is not recognized, the
convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the
territory of a high contracting party even if the said occupation meets with no
armed resistance.

The other kind of armed conflict recognized by the International Humanitarian

Law talks about a newly discovered conflict known as the internationalized
armed conflict. This situation can occur when a war occurs between two
different faction fighting internally but are supported by two different states4.

Non-International Armed Conflict,

According to the common article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 12 August
1949 talks about NIAC being armed conflicts in which one or more non-State
armed groups are involved. Such conflicts are referred as civil wars or internal
conflicts. It may take place between the government forces of a sovereign state
and organized armed groups and it may also take place between two organized
armed groups without the involvement of the state. Further, two requirements
are necessary for such situations to be classified as NIAC:

 The hostilities must reach a minimum level of intensity. This may be the
case, for instance, when the hostilities are of a collective character or when
the government is obliged to use military force against the insurgents,
against the mere police forces.

 Non-Governmental groups involved in the conflict must be considered as

“parties to the conflict”, meaning that they possess organized armed forces.
This means that these forces have to be under a certain command structure
and have the command to sustain military operation.

Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Convention 1949 supplements common

Article 3 used in the Geneva Convention 1949 without amending its existing
conditions. But there was an introduction to the requirement of territorial
control. It says that the non-governmental parties must exercise such territorial
control as to enable them to carry out sustained and concerted.

4
Stewart, 2003, p315
The “two-tiered” protection provided to women by international humanitarian
law is also evident in the rules relating to detention. Women who are deprived
of their liberty for reasons related to the conflict are entitled to the same general
protection as men without discrimination and also benefit from additional
specific rules which take into account their specific needs. This two-tiered
protection finds expression, for example, in Article 14 of the Third Geneva
Convention, which states that –
“Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex and shall in all
circumstances benefit by treatment as favourable as that granted to men”

And in Article 16 which provides that –

“Taking into account the provisions of the present Convention relating to (...)
sex (...) all prisoners of war shall be treated alike by the Detaining Power,
without adverse distinction ...” 5

The notion of combatant does not exist in NIACs. Further, the concept of
“prisoners of war” is also not applicable.

THE REIGN BOKO HARAM AND THE HAVOC IT CAUSED TO

WOMEN IN THE REGION OF NORTHERN AFRICA.
Based on interviews with victims, witnesses, medical staff, journalists, and
government officials, as well as an analysis of credible media and other reports,
Human Rights Watch estimates that Boko Haram has abducted at least 500
women and girls since 2009 from more than a dozen towns and villages in
Borno and Yobe states6. The abductions sparked national and international
protests, bringing much-needed attention to the vulnerability of Nigerian
women and girls to abduction.

5
The principle of non-discrimination in the treatment to be granted inter alia to persons
deprived of their liberty is reiterated in Article 27 GC IV, Article 75 AP I and Article 4 AP II.
6
In “Women, Gender and the evolving tactics of Boko Haram,” an article in the February 2014 Journal of
Terrorism Research, authors Elizabeth Pearson and Jacob Zenn, similarly found a distinct increase in gender-
based violence as part of Boko Haram’s strategy in the same period. They conclude that gender has, since the
beginning of 2013, become an essential component of Boko Haram’s strategy, noting that Boko Haram
sometimes abducted women for tactical purposes, such as luring security forces to an ambush or forcing
payment of a ransom, or a prisoner exchange. In other cases, especially when violence was directed at
Christian women, the motive appeared to be retributive or punitive, designed to breed fear and drive women
and their families out of their homes. Jacob Zenn, Elizabeth Pearson, “Women, Gender and the evolving tactics
of Boko Haram,”Journal of Terrorism Research, vol. 5.1 (2014):46-57.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 12 young women and girls who escaped from
Boko Haram custody after the school attack. On the day of their abduction,
many of the students had taken their West African School Certificate
examinations.
The relative ease with which it carried out the Chibok abductions appears to
have emboldened Boko Haram to step up abductions elsewhere. On April 16,
six women and two children were abducted from Wala village and taken to a
camp in Sambisa forest. Another five women from Gujba village in Yobe State
were reportedly abducted on April 257. Eleven teenage girls were also abducted
during attacks on Wala and Warabe villages in southern Borno State on May
6. In early June, suspected Boko Haram gunmen reportedly kidnapped another
60 women from Kummabza, in Damboa, Borno State8.

7
Niyi, “Boko Haram Slaughter 3 Civil Servants, Abduct 5 Women In Yobe Ambush,” Information Nigeria, April
26, 2014, http://www.informationng.com/2014/04/boko-haram-slaughter-3-civil-servants-abduct-5-women-
in-yobe-ambush.html (accessed August 7, 2014).
8
Ola’ Audu, “60 Women Feared Kidnapped,” Premium Times, June 20, 2014,
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/163569-60-women-feared-kidnapped-boko-haram-attacks-borno-
villages.html (accessed August 7, 2014).