When people think about war, they often picture destroyed buildings, displaced families, and the day the fighting finally ends. But for many women and children, the hardest part of recovery begins after the headlines fade. Long after weapons fall silent, families continue to live with financial uncertainty, emotional trauma, disrupted education, and the daily challenges of rebuilding a sense of normal life.
The effects of conflict often move quietly from the battlefield into the home, where they can shape family relationships for years to come.
In my own experience as a second-generation immigrant, I can still feel the impact that it has had. Many people look around and see generations of grandmothers, mothers, and cousins all around them. For those impacted by war or displacement, these experiences can disrupt many of the societal and community bonds that were traditionally protected. This happens in Iran and Afghanistan, and for many other displaced populations in the Middle East and beyond.
Moving forward and finding new fibers to connect ourselves to a new society extends far beyond just us. It affects our partners, our extended families, and our children.
How Armed Conflict Reshapes Family Life
Research from humanitarian organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) consistently shows that armed conflict disrupts family life through prolonged financial insecurity, unemployment, displacement, psychological trauma, interrupted education, and the breakdown of community support systems.
These pressures disproportionately affect women and girls, who often shoulder increased caregiving responsibilities while facing greater barriers to economic recovery.
Economic hardship is one of the strongest predictors of family stress in post-conflict settings. Damage to local economies, rising food prices, job losses, and reduced household income can create persistent uncertainty for families.
Although financial strain does not cause violence on its own, studies have shown that prolonged economic stress is associated with increased family conflict and can heighten the risk of intimate partner violence where other risk factors are present. Humanitarian crises have also been linked to increases in child marriage, school dropout, and exploitation as families struggle to cope with limited resources.
Why Women and Girls Face Greater Risks
Women and girls experience these pressures in unique ways. Globally, approximately one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime, and humanitarian settings are recognised as environments where these risks often increase.
Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable, with more than one in five ever-partnered girls aged 15 to 19 reporting intimate partner violence. Conflict also disrupts access to reproductive healthcare, education, employment opportunities, and social protection, making recovery more difficult for women long after hostilities end.
Another emerging concern is social isolation. Internet disruptions, communication blackouts, damaged infrastructure, and displacement can separate families from relatives, employers, educators, and support services.
For women experiencing abuse or severe psychological distress, the inability to contact trusted family members, community organisations, or emergency services may increase vulnerability and delay access to assistance.
Communication networks have become an essential part of humanitarian resilience because they connect people to information, healthcare, financial services, and social support during periods of instability.
The Impact of Conflict on Children and Families
Children are also affected by these changing family dynamics. Research has found that exposure to chronic household stress may contribute to anxiety, depression, behavioural difficulties, interrupted education, and poorer long-term health outcomes.
Mothers frequently become the primary source of emotional stability for children while simultaneously managing increased unpaid care responsibilities, reduced income, and their own recovery from trauma. As a result, women often carry a disproportionate share of both the emotional and practical work required to help families rebuild after conflict.
What Long-Term Recovery Requires
Addressing these challenges in Iran specifically requires more than emergency humanitarian aid. Long-term recovery depends on sustained investment in community-based mental health services, economic opportunities for women, legal protection from gender-based violence, access to childcare, continued education for girls, reliable communication infrastructure, and locally led women’s organisations.
Evidence suggests that these services not only improve outcomes for women and children but also strengthen family stability and community resilience during post-conflict recovery.
Conflict may eventually end on the battlefield, but its effects often continue quietly within households. In families where domestic violence already existed, the stress and instability created by conflict can further intensify those patterns. Recognising these realities is an important step toward building stronger communities and creating meaningful, long-term recovery.
How OMID Supports Women and Girls After Trauma
At OMID Foundation, we believe that lasting recovery begins with people. Healing from conflict is not a single moment but a journey that requires compassion, opportunity, and practical support.
Through trauma recovery programs, educational opportunities, vocational training, life skills development, and awareness initiatives, OMID works alongside women and girls as they rebuild confidence, strengthen resilience, and create brighter futures for themselves and their families.
If you are impacted or want to help make an impact, we welcome you. Help us support women and girls as they rebuild their lives through trauma recovery, education, and economic empowerment.
Learn more about OMID’s work and how you can get involved:
- Learn about OMID’s programs: Education & Vocational Training
- Learn about OMID’s trauma recovery work: Trauma Management Programs
- Volunteer or get involved: Volunteer with OMID
- Learn how OMID works: How We Do It
- Interested in partnering with OMID? Collaborate with OMID