Sexual abuse of women and exploitation of children by peacekeepers:
Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Democratic Republic of Congo
By Olivera Simic 

After the mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina was over, peacekeepers changed locations and countries, in following a war torn societies in need of peace. Still, the crimes perpetuated by peacekeepers against those in need, particularly women and children, did not change. Moreover, it looks like they exacerbated.

Gender, Conflict, and Reconciliation: Where are the Men?  What about Women?
By Olivera Simic 

Reconciliation is a long-term process that includes the search for truth, justice, healing and forgiveness.  It should be a broad and inclusive process that involves each member of a conflict affected society. In addition, the reconciliation process should be engendered because men and women experience war differently. In this regard, before we examine the nature of reconciliation we must acknowledge how conflict involves and affects women and men in different ways.

Sex Trafficking: The Impact of War, Militarism and Globalization in Eastern Europe
By Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic, Ph.D.

Uneven distribution of wealth has always been among the main generators of sex trafficking. However, only in the past several decades has sex trafficking become a global problem. As Dutch researcher Sietske Altink observes, “more and more countries are joining the ranks of sending countries and increasing numbers are becoming target countries.”

Aspects of External Perceptions of Identity and Group-Belonging
By Ann-Charlotte Nilsson

The elite-driven conflicts that evolved in Rwanda and Bosnia-Hercegovina were driven by actors that used and manipulated members of the population to carry out violent acts based on ethnicity, and where in numerous cases former friends and neighbors turned into enemies. Maynard terms these types of conflicts, identity conflicts. These are conflicts among identity groups based on factors such as ethnicity or religion, and are characterized by their intense animosity, extreme brutality and widespread involvement by civilian actors in the context of societal collapse.

Gender and Armed Conflict – an Overview Report
By Armani El Jack
BRIDGE

Armed conflict negatively affects women and men and results in gender-specific disadvantages, particularly for women that are not always recognised or addressed by the mainstream, gender-blind understandings of conflict and reconstruction. Gender inequality reflects power imbalances in social structures that exist in pre-conflict periods and are exacerbated by armed conflict and its aftermath. The acceptance of gender stereotypes is one of the main reasons that such gender blindness persists.