Analysis
Women's War
Sexual Violence, Military Assault & the Invisible Casualties
In Bosnia, Serbian soldiers held women in “rape camps” — systematic, organized, documented. At least 50,000 women were raped as a deliberate tool of ethnic cleansing. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups have raped an estimated 200,000 women since 1998. In Iraq, ISIS enslaved 7,000 Yazidi women. And in the United States military itself, 20,000+ service members are sexually assaulted every year — by their own colleagues. One in four women who serve report military sexual trauma. War doesn't just kill women. It uses them. It breaks them. And then it forgets them.
Key Findings
- • 20,000+ military sexual assaults annually — DOD estimates only ~7,000 are reported. The military investigates itself.
- • 641,000+ women raped as a weapon of war in major conflicts since 1990 (conservative UN estimates)
- • 150,000+ Vietnamese children born with Agent Orange birth defects — US has never compensated them
- • 18.1% of the US military is female — but women are still fighting for equal treatment, safety, and recognition
- • Average age of a post-9/11 war widow: 26 — most have children under 5 and receive $1,612/month
- • Depleted uranium in Fallujah caused a 14x increase in childhood cancer and birth defects rivaling Hiroshima
“Rape Is Cheaper Than Bullets”
Sexual violence in war is not an unfortunate side effect. It is a weapon — deployed strategically, systematically, and with devastating effectiveness. The UN Security Council didn't even recognize wartime rape as a crime against humanity until 2008. For most of human history, it was considered a soldier's “spoils of war.”
Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War
Conservative estimates of wartime sexual violence victims. Actual numbers are believed to be far higher. Sources: UN Women, ICTY, ICTR, Physicians for Human Rights.
| Conflict | Estimated Victims | Perpetrators | Accountability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosnia (1992-95) | 50,000+ | Serb forces | Yes (ICTY) |
| Rwanda (1994) | 250,000+ | Hutu militia | Yes (ICTR) |
| DRC (ongoing) | 200,000+ | Multiple militias | Partially |
| Iraq (ISIS, 2014-17) | 7,000+ | ISIS | Partially |
| Syria (2011-present) | 14,000+ | Assad regime/ISIS | Limited |
| Ethiopia/Tigray (2020-22) | 120,000+ | Ethiopian/Eritrean forces | UN investigation |
Bosnia: The Rape Camps
During the Bosnian War (1992-1995), Serbian forces operated organized rape camps where Muslim women were held captive, repeatedly assaulted, and deliberately impregnated. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) estimated 20,000–50,000 women were raped. Many were held for months. Some were killed when they became pregnant. Others were forced to carry children of their rapists to term — a form of ethnic cleansing through forced reproduction.
The ICTY became the first international court to classify systematic wartime rape as a crime against humanity. It took until 2001. The trauma continues today — thousands of “children of war” in Bosnia live with the knowledge of how they were conceived.
Congo: The Rape Capital of the World
The Democratic Republic of Congo has been called “the rape capital of the world” by the UN. Since 1998, an estimated 200,000 women and girls have been raped by armed groups — militias, rebel forces, and the Congolese army itself. In the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, rape rates are 48 women per hour.
Sexual violence is used to terrorize communities, destroy social bonds, and control territory. Fistula — a devastating internal injury caused by violent rape — affects tens of thousands. Many victims are children. The youngest documented survivor was 3 years old. The international community's response has been largely limited to reports and resolutions.
Iraq & ISIS: Slavery as Policy
When ISIS captured northern Iraq in 2014, they enslaved an estimated 7,000 Yazidi women and girls. ISIS published theological justifications for slavery and rape. Women were bought and sold in markets. Prices were posted online. Girls as young as 9 were sold as “wives.”
Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor who won the Nobel Peace Prize, testified that she was raped repeatedly, sold multiple times, and tortured for months. Thousands of Yazidi women remain missing. The Sinjar region still holds mass graves containing women who were killed when they were no longer “useful.”
The Enemy Within: Military Sexual Assault
You don't have to go to a war zone to be assaulted. For thousands of women — and men — in the US military, the threat comes from their own ranks. The Department of Defense estimates 20,500 sexual assaults occur each year within the military. Fewer than 7,000 are reported. Of those, fewer than 500 result in conviction. The system protects perpetrators.
Military Sexual Assault Reports (DOD)
Reports nearly quadrupled after the military improved reporting channels — suggesting the true rate was always far higher than reported. The 2014 spike followed Senator Gillibrand's reform push. Sources: DOD SAPRO Annual Reports.
MST Prevalence Rate by Gender (%)
1 in 4 women and 1 in 100 men report military sexual trauma to the VA. Due to the military's gender ratio, there are actually more male MST survivors by total count. Sources: VA MST screening data.
The Reporting Problem
- • Only ~35% of assaults are reported (DOD anonymous survey vs. filed reports)
- • 62% of women who report face retaliation (DOD Inspector General)
- • Until 2022, unit commanders controlled prosecution — they could (and did) dismiss cases involving friends
- • Conviction rate: ~7% of reported cases result in conviction
- • The military justice system has no independent judiciary — judges are military officers
The Aftermath
- • MST survivors are 9x more likely to develop PTSD than other veterans
- • 71% of women with MST also have depression (VA data)
- • MST survivors have 2x the suicide rate of other veterans
- • Many receive less-than-honorable discharges — losing VA benefits — after reporting assault
- • 24,000 service members were discharged with personality disorder diagnoses after reporting MST (2001-2010)
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's Fight
Senator Gillibrand introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act in 2013 to remove sexual assault prosecution from the chain of command. The Pentagon fought it aggressively. Generals testified that commanders needed to retain authority. The bill was blocked repeatedly.
A watered-down version finally passed in 2021 — nearly a decade later. Even now, implementation has been slow. The military's culture of silence, retaliation, and institutional self-protection remains largely intact. In 2023, the DOD admitted that sexual assault rates had increasedsince reforms began.
18% of the Force, 0% of the Recognition
Women make up 18.1% of the US military — over 238,000 active duty service members. They serve as fighter pilots, Special Operations enablers, combat medics, and intelligence officers. They've fought in every post-9/11 war. And yet the military didn't officially allow women in combat roles until 2015 — even though women had been fighting, bleeding, and dying in combat for decades.
Women in the US Military (1973–2025)
Women went from 2.5% of the force to 18.1% — but still face systemic barriers, assault, and exclusion. Combat roles only opened in 2015. Sources: DOD Demographics Reports.
The Combat Exclusion Fiction
The “combat exclusion policy” — which banned women from combat roles until 2015 — was always a fiction. In Iraq and Afghanistan, there were no “front lines.” Women drove supply convoys through IED-laden roads. They manned checkpoints. They conducted raids as part of Cultural Support Teams attached to Special Operations.
168 women died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 1,000 were wounded in action. Specialist Monica Lin Brown received the Silver Star for shielding wounded soldiers with her body during a mortar attack in Afghanistan. Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester became the first woman since WWII to receive the Silver Star for direct combat action.
Despite their service, women veterans face unique challenges: VA facilities that lack gynecological care, PTSD screening tools designed for men, a culture that still doesn't believe women were “really” in combat, and a public that asks “Did you actually see combat?” when they mention their service.
Poisoned Wombs: Agent Orange, Depleted Uranium & the Next Generation
War doesn't just kill the people who fight it. It deforms their children. It poisons breast milk. It writes itself into DNA. The chemicals America deploys in war zones come home in the bodies of veterans — and emerge in the bodies of their children, born years or decades later.
| Toxic Exposure | Affected Population | US Veterans | Birth Defects | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agent Orange (Vietnam) | 150,000+ Vietnamese children | ~2,500 US veteran children | Spina bifida, cleft palate, missing limbs, cognitive disabilities | 1962–present (3rd generation) |
| Depleted Uranium (Iraq) | ~14,000 in Fallujah alone | Unknown — DOD denies link | Leukemia, heart defects, neural tube defects, 14x cancer rate in Fallujah | 1991–present |
| Burn Pits (Post-9/11) | Under study | 3.5M veterans exposed | Elevated birth defect rates reported but not officially tracked | 2001–present |
| Nuclear Testing (Marshall Islands) | ~10,000 Marshallese | Thousands of "atomic veterans" | "Jellyfish babies" — boneless, translucent births. Thyroid cancer. Leukemia. | 1946–present |
Agent Orange: Three Generations and Counting
Between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange over Vietnam. The herbicide contained dioxin — one of the most toxic substances known to science. The Vietnamese government estimates 3 million people have been affected, including 150,000 children born with birth defects.
The US government denied any link between Agent Orange and health effects for decades. It took until 1991 — twenty years — for Congress to pass the Agent Orange Act. Even then, coverage was limited. Vietnamese victims have received nothing from the US government. A 2004 lawsuit was dismissed.
The effects continue into the third generation. Grandchildren of Agent Orange victims in Vietnam are being born with the same defects. This is what war does to women: it poisons their ability to create life. And the country responsible refuses to pay for what it did.
Fallujah: Worse Than Hiroshima
After two brutal US sieges of Fallujah, Iraq in 2004, something began happening to the babies. Birth defects spiked to 14 times the normal rate. Childhood cancer rates exceeded those seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Women in Fallujah began refusing to have children.
Studies by Iraqi and international researchers found elevated levels of uranium, lead, and mercury in hair and soil samples. The US military used depleted uranium ammunition and white phosphorus during the sieges. The Pentagon has never acknowledged responsibility. Fallujah's women — the ones who survived — now watch their children die of cancers that didn't exist before the Americans came.
War Widows: $1,612 Per Month to Raise a Family
When a service member dies, their spouse receives Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) — $1,612 per month. For a 26-year-old widow with two children — which is the average profile of a post-9/11 war widow — that's $19,344 per year. Below the poverty line.
| War | Estimated Widows | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| World War II | ~300,000 | GI Bill benefits, pension | Relatively well-supported due to national consensus |
| Korean War | ~36,000 | Survivor benefits | The "Forgotten War" — families also forgotten |
| Vietnam War | ~58,000 | DIC, limited services | Many also dealing with Agent Orange effects on children |
| Gulf War | ~383 | DIC, TRICARE | Gulf War Syndrome affected children of veterans |
| Post-9/11 Wars | ~7,000 | DIC ($1,612/mo), TAPS | Average widow age: 26. Most have children under 5. |
The “Widow Tax”
Until 2021, military widows who also received Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments had their DIC offset dollar-for-dollar — effectively eliminating one benefit. This was called the “widow tax.” Surviving spouses paid premiums their entire career for a benefit that was then taken away.
Congress knew about the widow tax for 47 years before finally eliminating it. During those 47 years, hundreds of thousands of military widows lost benefits they had been promised. Many lived in poverty. The government that asked their spouses to die for their country couldn't be bothered to fix a billing error for half a century.
Invisible Widows
The 7,000 post-9/11 war widows get some recognition — they at least receive a folded flag. But what about the wives of the 30,177 veterans who killed themselves? They receive no DIC. No folded flag. No gold star. The VA doesn't classify veteran suicide as a service-connected death unless the family fights for it — a process that can take years.
And what about the widows in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Pakistan? The estimated 929,000 people killed in America's post-9/11 wars left behind millions of widows. They receive nothing from the country that killed their husbands. There is no DIC for the other side.
The Bottom Line
Women are not bystanders to war. They are its targets, its survivors, its unrecognized soldiers, and its generational victims. They are raped as a weapon, assaulted by their own military, widowed at 26, and poisoned through their pregnancies. Their children are born deformed by chemicals deployed decades ago.
And when the war ends — if it ever ends — women are expected to rebuild. To raise the children alone. To care for the wounded veteran. To mourn quietly. To be grateful for $1,612 a month.
The cost of war is always counted in dollars and deaths. It should also be counted in rapes, in birth defects, in children who never knew their fathers, in women who were told to be silent about what was done to them. Until we count those costs, we are lying about the price of war.
Sources
- • Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), Annual Reports 2004–2024
- • VA Military Sexual Trauma Screening Data, 2000–2024
- • International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Foca Case Proceedings
- • UN Women, “Sexual Violence in Conflict” (2023)
- • Physicians for Human Rights, “War-Related Sexual Violence” (2022)
- • DOD Demographics: Profile of the Military Community (2024)
- • Vietnamese Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA)
- • Busby C, et al. “Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009” (2010)
- • Congressional Research Service, “Military Survivor Benefits” (2023)
- • Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Annual Survey
- • Brown University Costs of War Project, “Human Cost of Post-9/11 Wars” (2023)
- • Nadia Murad, “The Last Girl” (2017)