Rapes and other sexual crimes perpetrated against women in specific countries are a weapon of terror that prevent women - who are often left at home to mind children and tend to livestock - from being able to move freely within their own areas and thus get food, water and other necessities which their families depend upon.

Yet, this is just one example of the many ways that women bear the brunt of warfare - and are often the unaccounted for or \x93hidden\x94 victims of conflict. Interviews conducted by the International Committee of the Red Cross with widows of the Iraqi wars and the Bosnian war, show the impact of the loss of missing husbands on the lives of their wives long after these wars have ended.

"Not knowing what happened to husbands, father, (and) a brother is a harsh reality for women in war. On one hand in their society they are not wives, not widows, they are something in between. On the other they became the breadwinner of their families. The International Committee of the Red Cross, on behalf of the families, promote the right to know and the states have obligations to take necessary measures to clarify the fate of the missing and inform their families and help them in their daily enquiries" said, ICRC Tracing officer for Iraq Jamila Hammami. (for full interview see www.redcross.ie)

Here in Ireland, the Irish Red Cross supports this work by helping to trace missing family members left behind by people seeking refuge here because of war or other disasters in their home countries.

The Irish Red Cross also supports the development of much stronger protections for women by governments, agencies and other bodies with power to change women's lives.

This year, working with the Irish umbrella body to combat violence based on gender - the Gender Based Violence consortium - the Irish Red Cross will support the Irish government's work to ensure full implementation of UN resolution 1325 with the drafting of a national plan. This resolution, passed unanimously eight years ago (October 2000) specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.

Through its work in Ireland with the Gender Based Violence consortium, set-up in 2005, the Irish Red Cross has already supported a number of projects designed to bring an end to sexually-based violence. These include the production of publications to highlight the issue in certain countries; guidelines to aid agencies to deal with the problem; and training on how to deal with the problem to members of the Irish Defence Forces and other organisations whose personnel are sent overseas.

This work is consistent with the work being done in many countries where Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations operate to support action to end violence that is often - although not exclusively - directed against women for reasons of gender.