lation to offences they did not commit. Between 2015 and 2018, 12 children have been forcibly disappeared in custody.108 • From an economic point of view, traditional gender roles contribute to the economic hardship for women after a disappearance.111 As men are often the sole or the main source of income, women can experience severe poverty as a result of the disappearance of their male spouse or relative.112 ED can force women into low-paying or insecure jobs, which also increases their risk of exploitation, including sex work. Consequently, they are exposed to greater risk of violence and sexually transmitted diseases.113 Wives can also be seen as an economic burden by their in-laws in certain cultures114 and as a threat to family property and lineage115 which encourages tension and “intra-familial harassment”.116 © Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo • In Sudan, women and children have been abducted either for the purpose of slavery or as part of an ethnic cleansing strategy within armed conflicts. As early as in 1995, the WGEID reported instances of abduction of women and children, noting that, “the Popular Defence Forces of the Government of the Sudan have abducted women and children in southern Sudan. These women and children are then reportedly taken to the north where they are compelled to work as slaves”.109 • After a disappearance, women are often pressured to choose between obtaining the status of widow or remarrying.117 In addition to inter-familial harassment, women are often blamed for the disappearance and are seen to have failed in their duty as a mother or a wife.118 Case study: Seham Sergiwa In Libya, female politicians have not been spared from attacks and forced disappearances. On 17 July 2019, Seham Sergiwa, a member of Parliament, was abducted from her home by a unit of unidentified gunmen and remains missing today.110 During her abduction, Seham’s husband and son were shot and injured. Shortly before her disappearance, Seham had publicly called for an end to a military offensive on Tripoli being conducted by General Khalifa Hiftar. To date, her family has no information about Seham’s whereabouts or her fate. Whilst the Interim Government opened an investigation into Seham’s disappearance, this has yielded no results. • Without the protection of a father or a husband, women face a higher risk of sexual abuse and violence, including from family members.119 More generally, women are more likely to be victims of direct forms of violence as perpetrators can act with greater impunity, as women are less likely to report a violation or to be believed in their complaint.120 • Women face additional challenges in their search for truth because of their lack of access to public services compared to men, especially for indigenous women who don’t speak the dominant language of the country.121 They are also forced to interact with men to obtain documentation, which can be taboo in some communities.122 Women and children are also indirect victims of ED. As the wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of disappeared men, women are often the faces of the search for their loved ones. Furthermore: 108 Amnesty International, “Egypt: Children face shocking violations including torture and enforced disappearance”, 20 November 2018. 109 Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, para 404. 110 Amnesty International, Libya: Abducted politician’s fate remains unknown a year on, amid ongoing disappearances, 17 July 2020; HRW, Libya: Abducted Politician Missing 4 Weeks, 16 August 2019, Beirut. 111 International Center for Transitional Justice ("ICTJ"), The Disappeared and Invisible, Revealing the Enduring Impact of Enforced Disappearance on Women by Polly Dewhirst and Amrita Kapur, March 2015, at p. 8. 112 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at p. 6. 113 Duggan et al., “Reparations for Sexual and Reproductive Violence,” p. 196. 114 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at p. 8. 115 Ibid. 116 Carlos Martín Beristain, The value of memory: Project for the Reconstruction of a Historical Memory in Guatemala, 1998, pp. 24−26. 117 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at pp. 9 118 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at pp. 8 119 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at pp. 9 120 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at pp.16 121 ICTJ, The Disappeared and Invisible, supra note 111, at pp.15 122 ICTJ, Beyond Relief: Addressing the Rights and Needs of Nepal’s Wives of the Disappeared, August 2013, at pp. 13 25