Helpdesk Research Report: The Impact of Conflict on Women's Voice and Participation

Conflict and power are closely interrelated. There is evidence from the literature to suggest that conflict may be partly caused by excluded groups using violent means in an attempt to gain control over their lives and express their voice. However, conflict can also exacerbate exclusion and the least empowered may lose out (i.e. women, children, certain ethnic minorities). Violence can operate in a mutually re-enforcing way with other forms of marginalisation (poverty, stigma, race, gender, geographical location). It breaks down the bonds of trust and social fabric of society and in some cases, this weakens the basis for excluded or less powerful groups to both articulate their voices and to have them heard. It undermines the relationships of accountability between citizens and the state (especially when the state is implicated in the violence) and all of this can contribute to enforcing exclusion.