Women’s bodies have become the ultimate battleground in Africa’s conflict zones. The horrific violence inflicted on women prisoners in Munzenze prison in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 27, 2025, is a stark reminder of this devastating reality. At least 165 of these women were raped by neighboring male inmates fleeing prison during a violent M23 rebels capture of the city.”
It did not end with rape, no; the escaping male prisoners set fire to the prison, killing all but 18 of the reported 167 women held in that prison. Of the at least 165 women who were raped, 149 of them were teargassed and burnt, alive!
This incident is tragically emblematic of a broader pattern of systematic violence against women in conflict zones across Africa. From the kidnapping, rape, and forced marriage of 276 Chibok girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria to over 200 girls raped in Sudan some as young as just a year old the stories of violence stretch across the continent. From Somalia to Ethiopia, from Burundi to Chad, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Eritrea, African women experience war in a uniquely devastating manner.
Africa is facing a series of complex multi-layered political challenges including humanitarian crises, ethnic, political, religious, and territorial tensions, climate shocks, terrorism, and decades of armed conflict. The repercussions of this instability and insecurity are varied, often leading to displacements, loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure, social disruption, public health crises, and collective and individual physical and psychological trauma.
While the leaders of these countries and their opponents take up arms and fight, women’s bodies become the grounds on which the battles are fought. Sexual violence has become a deliberate tactic of war, transforming women’s bodies into battlegrounds where conflicts are fought through the most intimate and traumatic forms of violence.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, more than half of all refugees in Africa are children. This has a devastating impact on their access to learning, quality of education, and completion rates, particularly for girls and women. UNESCO estimates reveal that sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost 30% of the world’s out-of-school children, with 1 in 5 African children not being in school (19.7%).
For women in war-torn countries, it is not a fight for power, land, or natural minerals, but a fight for dignity, safety, and life. It is a fight to claim their bodily rights.
The violence extends far beyond physical assault. Conflict systematically dismantles women’s lives through:
Displacement and Vulnerability: Wars force women to flee their homes, stripping them of livelihoods, safety, and basic necessities. Displaced women become exponentially more vulnerable to exploitation, lacking access to food, shelter, and healthcare.
Educational and Economic Disruption: Schools close, dreams are interrupted, and economic opportunities vanish. Girls are denied education, and women are prevented from working, economically paralyzing entire communities.
Forced Recruitment and Early Marriage: Armed groups forcibly recruit women as combatants or domestic workers. In desperate situations, families resort to marrying off young girls not out of choice, but as a desperate survival strategy.
Different conflict zones reveal similar patterns of gendered violence:
Sudan: Civil war has created widespread displacement, leaving women exposed to sexual violence and bereft of essential services.
Sahel Region: Countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger see increased risks of women’s abduction and exploitation.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Eastern DRC remains notorious for systemic sexual violence used as a weapon of war.
So as the world celebrates International Women’s Day under the theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment”, we must reflect on what Rights, Equality, and Empowerment means for African women and girls in conflict areas who, as victims of men’s greed and scuffle for power and wealth, continuously pay the price with their bodies.
We must reflect on how their suffering reflects on us all. We must reflect on what it takes to unweave this web of patriarchal entanglement that offers women’s bodies as commodities and spoils of war. We must reflect on how we can pursue radical accountability from the people who create these conflicts that become bleeding grounds for innocent women and girls.
More importantly, as African women, we must reflect on what we can do to care and create safety for our sisters, for they are ALL women, and if they are not safe, ALL of us are not safe.
While women are disproportionately affected by conflict, they are also crucial agents of peacebuilding. International organizations and local communities must collaborate to:
Protect women from violence
Promote their participation in peace processes
Provide comprehensive access to essential services
Create mechanisms for psychological support and rehabilitation
This is not just a women’s issue it is a fundamental human rights issue that demands our collective attention, action, and commitment to change.
