A/HRC/44/29 face of armed violence and have been key players in small arms control, the prevention of diversion of arms and advocacy for disarmament.55 B. Impact on fundamental freedoms 20. The uncontrolled availability of firearms also restricts the free movement of women and girls in situations of widespread insecurity, particularly when the risk of sexual violence is rampant.56 It has also been shown in studies that female survivors of explosive weapon attacks who have suffered disfigurement or disability are more likely to suffer marginalization than men, which also affects their freedom of movement. 57 These restrictions on movement hinder the ability of women and girls to assemble and express their opinions in a public political platform,58 and may cause a gendered impact on their rights to political participation and freedom of assembly and expression. C. Impact on adequate standard of living 21. Refugee crises and internal displacement, which are primarily driven by armed conflict that is fuelled by the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons, may have a gendered impact on women and girls, including their right to an adequate standard of living and right to housing.59 For example, more than 75 per cent of internally displaced persons in Yemen are women and girls.60 22. Uncontrolled proliferation of weapons can subject women and girls in patriarchal societies to secondary victimization by forcing them to bear the brunt of the socioeconomic dimensions of conflict. 61 Upon the death or disabling injury of their partner, parent or parents, they are often burdened with providing for their family in extremely difficult conditions.62 Indeed, in some countries experiencing protracted armed conflict, up to 21 per cent of households are led by girls under 18. 63 Having been stripped of economic opportunities, the resulting survival choices for many are prostitution, commercial labour or domestic servitude, 64 which risk exposing them to continued violence, including sexual violence. 65 They are also exposed to poor working conditions and exclusion from their communities.66 D. Impact on the right to health 23. Protracted armed conflicts fuelled by the use of illicit or unregulated armed transfers and diversion of arms have devastating impacts on access to health care for nearby residents who are often exposed to artillery and rocket fire, air strikes and snipers when 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 8 See the contribution of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, citing the role of women in these initiatives and providing examples from Colombia, Kenya, Libya and Yemen. See the contributions of Switzerland, UNODC, Control Arms and Project Ploughshares. See the contribution of the Office for Disarmament Affairs. See also the contribution of Control Arms, citing Martin Butcher, “The gendered impact of explosive weapons used in populated areas in Yemen” (Oxford, Oxfam International, 2019). See the contributions of Switzerland, UNIDIR, UNODC and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. See the contribution of Project Ploughshares, citing S/2019/1011, p. 1. See the contribution of Project Ploughshares, citing Butcher, “The gendered impact of explosive weapons use in populated areas in Yemen”, p. 9. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 30, para. 48. See also Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament, p. 39, and the contribution of UNODC. See the contribution of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, citing Cate Buchanan, “The health and human rights of survivors of gun violence: charting a research and policy agenda”, Health and Human Rights, vol. 13, No. 2 (December 2011), p. 51. See the contribution of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. A/HRC/42/21, para. 37. See the contribution of the Somali Human Rights Association, indicating that teenage girls internally displaced by armed conflict in Somalia are often forced to perform manual labour, such as housework for wealthy employers, who frequently subject them to abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence. A/HRC/42/21, para. 37.