WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE AGAINST
US LED WAR, MILITARISM, RACISM AND
IMPERIALIST INTERVENTION!

Imperialist wars rage throughout the world to secure control of land, natural resources.  The US and other powerful states including the UK, Russia, China, Japan and countries in Western Europe, use war and occupation to facilitate destructive resource extraction for geopolitical interests, or more covertly through military intervention and support to other repressive states in the name “peace”, “security” and “fighting terrorism”.  In reality, these wars are waged in the name of corporate greed, war profiteering, and finding new global markets to increase super-profits for monopoly capitalists.   As increased territorial and political conflicts between countries are heightening, war and militarism seem like an inevitable part of life. Women bear the brunt of imperialist wars of aggression as we are often seen only as collateral damage in the quest for global control between superpowers - however, let us be clear that the highest form of violence against women is militarism and wars of aggression.

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The United States remains the number one imperialist power in the world today. Through excessive military funding, weapons development, and global alliances, the United States has made it clear that its number one priority is global domination through direct and indirect means. There are over 750 US military bases spread around the world, and spends more on its military budget than the next 10 countries combined.  This domination through imperial control primarily serves the interests of the ruling elite.  Under the global pandemic we are seeing countless US-funded and supported governments respond to the health crisis with guns and goons rather than with public health policies.

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In 2022 alone, we have already seen the onset of the war in Ukraine, the continued brutality of the occupation of Palestine, and imperialist-led attacks on Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Pakistan and countless other countries. Women continue to be at the forefront of these struggles and persistently resist these imperialist attacks against them and their communities. IWA calls on all women to oppose all wars of aggression and militarization perpetuated by US imperialism. 

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Impacts of War on Women & Children

Despite calls for global ceasefire during the pandemic, global military spending rose by 2.6 percent to USD 1.9 trillion in 2020, and to over USD 2 trillion in 2021.  While the UN’s sustainable development goal on gender equality and empowerment is the least financed out of all its sustainable development goals. Because of this, women are unable to overcome the challenges they face due to war and militarization due to their lack of funding for social services and excessive funding for war. It is for this reason that women must organize in their communities against wars of aggression and foreign intervention.

 

War destroys opportunities for economic development and the advancement of women’s rights and therefore has sweeping economic impacts on women and their families. In times of war it is often men who are forced to leave their families to “fight and defend” their homes - as a result women are left to take care of their families and support the local economy by filling in for absent men. 

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Rates of domestic violence and human trafficking also commonly spike during times of conflict due to rising instability, poverty, and a weakening rule of law.  These issues remain prominent in areas with foreign military bases. In instances of violence against women at the hands of their foreign military - servicemen are protected by their home country and can act with impunity. 

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Across the globe, systemic sexual violence against women and girls is often used as a war tactic to destabilize and terrorize communities. In 2020, the United Nations verified 2,500 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (committed mostly against women and girls) in 18 countries. In Afghanistan, 62% of women have experienced all three forms of gender-based violence: psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. An estimated 1 in 5 female refugees living in humanitarian settings has experienced sexual violence and its consequences, including trauma, stigma, poverty, and unwanted pregnancy.

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Historically, during WWII the Japanese's imperial army used between 50,000-200,000 women and girls as sexual slaves, widely known as “Comfort Women”. Today, the US military authorizes and regulates the trafficking and prostitution of poor women and girls to American soldiers near their overseas military bases. 

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Currently in Ukraine, women grapple with the threat of rape as a weapon of war as there is mounting evidence of increasing rape and torture being used against civilians in areas under Russian control.  Rape and sexual assault are considered war crimes and a breach of international humanitarian law. 

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In the face of militarization and occupation those who resist and fight against their occupier are arrested and detained. Women human rights defenders are at an increased risk for imprisonment, sexual harassment, rape and death. Many women who are detained are separated from family and unable to provide the day-to-day support they need. This negatively impacts the wellbeing of their families who are often intimidated by state forces as well.

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Women Resisting Imperialist Wars of Aggression

Women’s liberation cannot be achieved without women engaging in the anti-war movement.  The atrocities of war have made a dramatic impact on women’s role in society, and the anti-war movement has become a vehicle for women to take active political action.  Women have resisted war for as long as it has existed, and play an integral role in opposing all forms of imperialist violence. 

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Women must take an active role in opposing all wars of aggression, as more and more women are increasingly victimized in times of conflict, through war time injury, rape, displacement and even death.  

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Wars of national liberation from imperialist domination play a crucial role in building the anti-war movement and in crushing and dismantling the imperialist powers.  More and more, women are resisting and defending their lands and families, and pushing forward the anti-imperialist struggle to oppose all wars of aggression as they take up arms in their respective national liberation struggles.