Introduction

Increasing violence in volatile corners of the world has had a dramatic impact on human populations, especially on women. Unrest has extended social inequalities, which has further marginalised women both at micro and macro levels. In a report on ‘Gender, conflict and the MDGs’ Ngozi Eze (2011, 2) revealed that as of 2011, ‘70% of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty are women, who perform 66% of the world's work and produce half its food while earning only 10% of the world's income and owning less than 1% of its property.’ The majority of these women reside in turbulent regions of the world where the pace of developing adequate governance mechanisms and delivering adequate economic development has been less than desirable.

This disparity was internationally acknowledged for the first time in 1945 when the UN Commission on the Status of Women established a set of standards regarding Women's Rights to promote gender equality and motivate governments to change or establish laws to reflect the international conventions on women's rights (Cockerton, 1999). In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted as the first international document manifesting the Universality of human rights (Papoutsi, 2014). Social stratifications, such as race or gender, were not emphasised in separate, independent charters. It was through gradual adaptations of other charters in the following years, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, or the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in Vienna in 1993 that recognised women's struggle for just rights and their fight for gender equality (Sen and Mukherjee, 2013).

It was only in 2008 that the UN Security Council, through Resolution 1820 stressed that systematic sexual violence during conflict can constitute a war crime, crime against humanity, and/or act of genocide (United Nations Security Council, 2008). The same Resolution demands protection and prevention measures from parties in armed conflict; protection from violence in refugee and displaced person camps; and affirms the need for women's full participation in the peace-building process (UNDP, 2008).

The third of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) acknowledges the necessity of fighting discrimination against women and seeks to promote gender equality.