Targeting the unseen: gendered reverberating harm from attacks affecting water access - a case study of Sudan. The intersection of climate change, gender and conflict in international humanitarian law

Abstract

This thesis examines the extent to which the International Humanitarian Law can incorporate gendered reverberating harm arising from attacks affecting access to water in climate-vulnerable contexts, using the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan since April 2023 as a qualitative case study. The central argument is that the interpretation of the principle of proportionality and precaution during the targeting process does not include the gendered aspects of the reverberating consequences arising from the attacks that affect access. The text of IHL lacks a gender perspective and incorporates the understanding of civilian harm as being experienced equally by all civilians. However, as the Sudan case illustrates, pre-existing inequalities and gendered assigned roles that cover water collection, household care, and food provision, engaging with the intersection of climate-change-induced water scarcity, results in uneven harm to women and girls. Building on the existing concept of reverberating harm, the thesis develops the concept of "gendered reverberating harm" to describe the foreseeable indirect consequences that fall disproportionately on women and girls because of socially constructed gender roles and pre-existing inequalities in the context of climate vulnerability. The thesis concludes that the existing IHL framework is, in principle, capable of encompassing gendered reverberating harm without requiring new legal rules by adopting a progressive interpretation of the rules of proportionality and precaution. Therefore, commanders should incorporate gendered reverberating harm consideration on the basis that they satisfy the causation and the foreseeability element.