Example During raids, women who were related to men who were wanted by opposition groups have also been targeted for arbitrary arrest and detention in order to coerce male relatives to turn themselves in. (A/HRC/19/69, para. 60) Due to unequal income opportunities, women were severely affected when male relatives had died or been injured or imprisoned in relation to the conflict, often making it impossible for them to care for their children without the support of male family members. “The detention of male family members negatively affected the well-being of the suspects’ families, particularly the women and girls who were unprepared to take on the role as the head of households. As a result of cultural, economic and legal inequalities, women remain dependent on male family members.” (A/HRC/29/CRP.4, para. 512) The Commission documented and reported the consequences, including the anguish and trauma, as well as the subsequent violations inflicted on women, that followed the arbitrary detention or disappearance of their partners or male relatives accused of supporting opposition groups, which included acts of intimidation and sexual violence. “In addition to the threats received by the relatives of those disappeared, the phenomenon of the enforced disappearances has harmful consequences on the lives of the victims’ relatives. Indeed, the Commission observed the particular vulnerability of women, the partners of the victims, after the enforced disappearance of male partners or relatives ... The Commission [also] observed the particular vulnerability of women to sexual violence during or following the detention, disappearance, or death of their male partners or relatives. Women were targeted, once alone and without protection, with the aim to further dishonour their male relatives, as well as their family”. Women have reported to the Commission having been raped by the same groups who would have killed their husbands or relatives. [non-official translation]. (A/HRC/36/CRP.1/Rev.1, paras. 354, 355 and 460) Compilation and gender analysis of disaggregated statistics, as well as tailored interviews with the direct victims and their relatives, can be instrumental to assessing the impact of any given violation on the direct victims and on others, including relatives, who may be affected, in different ways. Violations that initially appear to be specific to males may in fact be affecting women as extensively as men. Example A change in tactics and an increase in aerial attacks on residential buildings was found to make women and girls “particularly vulnerable to death and injury”. While the number of male casualties was higher, a more thorough gender analysis indicated that 82 per cent of the 2014 female fatalities occurred in homes, compared with 46 per cent of the male fatalities. (A/HRC/29/CRP.4, para. 244) 45

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