Greater need, fewer resources: ensuring adequate health care for
women during armed conflict In areas ravaged by conflict,
women’s specific health needs are often neglected and ignored.
But women are particularly at risk when the bombs are falling.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, Nadine
Puechguirbal, the ICRC's women and war adviser, explains the
challenges that women face in war and why they need better
access to health care. What are the most serious health problems
confronting women during an armed conflict? This is problematic
for several reasons. First, pregnant and nursing women often
face life-threatening medical emergencies and require immediate
medical assistance right where they are. Second, women may be
less able to move around during a conflict. This may be on
account of the threat of violence, but it may also result from
cultural restrictions that prohibit women from travelling
without a male relative. That restriction becomes even more
onerous when the men of the family are not ava