Record 676 Million Women Exposed to Deadly Conflicts

Women stand in a damaged displacement settlement in Khan Younis, Gaza.

The battlefield is no longer distant; for millions of women, it is next door. An estimated 676 million women – nearly 17 per cent of the global female population – lived within 50 kilometres of a deadly conflict last year, according to a new report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). That is the highest figure recorded since the end of the Cold War.

2024 marked a historic peak in women’s exposure to armed conflict. The number of women living in conflict zones has more than doubled compared to 1990, reflecting both the rising scale of global violence and the increasing reach of conflicts into densely populated areas.

The study found that last year, around 245 million women lived in areas where conflict caused more than 25 battle-related deaths, while 113 million were located in zones with over 100 deaths.

Bangladesh recorded the highest absolute number of women exposed, with nearly 75 million living within 50 kilometres of conflict. The violence was primarily linked to nationwide protests in July and August, which culminated in the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

In Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine, all women were affected, meaning entire female populations were directly exposed to deadly violence.

Living near conflict zones has severe consequences for women’s lives. Armed conflict undermines inclusion, justice, and security, and is consistently associated with higher maternal mortality, greater risks of gender-based violence, reduced access to education for girls, and widening gender gaps in employment.

These impacts threaten women’s immediate safety but also their long-term wellbeing and economic prospects, weakening the foundations needed for recovery.

“Conflict doesn’t just happen on the battlefield – it reaches into women’s homes, schools, and workplaces, disrupting the very foundations of their lives,” said PRIO Research Director Siri Aas Rustad, the author of the report. “While some may find new roles in crisis, these opportunities are fragile. The hard truth is that war widens gender inequalities and leaves women at greater risk.”

The report highlights striking regional and national differences. In Lebanon in 2024, 100 per cent of the female population lived within 50 kilometres of a conflict event where the death toll exceeded 100 – meaning all women were exposed to high-intensity conflict.

In the Palestinian territories, nearly 80 per cent of women resided near areas with more than 100 fatalities, while the other 20 per cent lived in zones with between 1 and 99 deaths. Over one third of women lived close to areas with more than 1,000 deaths. Syria showed a similarly severe pattern, with most women exposed to medium- and high-intensity conflict.

In Nigeria, women in Borno State faced particularly high-intensity violence linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State, while women in the South-South region were increasingly affected by separatist violence.

The developmental costs of conflict on women are profound. Countries with a high proportion of women living near conflict consistently score lower on the United Nations Human Development Index, underlining the long-term effects of violence on education, health, and livelihoods.

Protracted conflicts, often overshadowed by more visible wars, steadily erode social and economic structures. At the same time, cuts in international aid threaten to further weaken infrastructure and deepen vulnerabilities.

The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) is a world-leading institute for the study of peace and conflict. Through research, PRIO examines the drivers of violence and the conditions that enable peaceful relations between states, groups, and individuals.