“We were sitting on the sixth floor when they attacked the seventh, my uncle’s apartment,” he said. “My uncle’s wife was screaming, ‘My children! My children are gone!’ As he ran to help her, the second projectile was fired. That’s when they killed my mother and my brothers.”
Mona survived the attack in Gaza, but her mother, sister and brother did not. The airstrike destroyed her family’s home and left her with life-changing injuries, including an amputated leg.
Her story reflects a growing reality for millions of women and girls caught up in today’s wars.
As the UN celebrates Protection of Civilians Week, the number of active conflicts around the world in its highest since 1946. Conflicts are becoming longer, more violent, and increasingly fought in populated neighborhoods rather than on distant battlefields.
Homes, schools, hospitals and shelters are being destroyed, while civilians bear the brunt of the violence.
Women as victims
While bombs do not distinguish between men and women, the consequences of war often fall disproportionately on women and girls.
The UN reported that 37,000 civilians died in 20 armed conflicts in 2025, and almost one in five victims were women.
Women and girls are more likely to be displaced, expelled from school or work, deprived of health care, and exposed to sexual violence, hunger, and extreme poverty.
As communities around them collapse, many are left to care for children, elderly and injured relatives as they try to survive.
In Loop38,000 women and girls had died in the war as of December 2025, even as ceasefire efforts continued. Residential buildings accounted for more than 95 percent of the infrastructure damage recorded.
Increase in sexual violence
He The UN verified more than 9,300 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025more than double the figure recorded the previous year, although officials warn that the true number is likely much higher because many survivors never report abuse. Women and girls account for more than 95 percent of reported cases.
In SudanNow in its fourth year of war, the number of women and girls needing support following gender-based violence has almost doubled in two years and quadrupled since the conflict began.
Women are being attacked in their homes and while searching for food, water and medical care.
The conflict is also causing massive displacements. By the end of 2024, more than 123 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide due to war.violence and persecution.
Women and girls fleeing conflict often face overcrowded shelters, separation from family, exploitation and repeated displacement.
Health systems collapse
In Gaza, the UN reported that 94 percent of hospitals had been damaged or destroyed by December 2025, leaving women giving birth without adequate medical care and injured civilians struggling to access treatment.
Nearly 700,000 women and girls were unable to properly control their menstruation due to shortages of sanitation supplies and unsafe living conditions.
The psychological cost is also immense. Women in countries like Afghanistan, UkraineGaza and Lebanon They face widespread depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, and often have little access to mental health services.
Call for inclusion
Despite bearing much of the burden of survival during the war, Women remain largely excluded from peace negotiations and political decision-making..
Globally, women represent only seven percent of negotiators and 14 percent of mediators in formal peace processes.
However, women continue to lead survival and recovery efforts in conflict zones by running community kitchens, supporting displaced families, rebuilding livelihoods, and advocating for peace.
The UN warns that without greater protection, funding and inclusion for women and girls, modern warfare will continue to deepen inequality and devastate generations already struggling to survive.