A/HRC/30/41 been victims of gender-based violence in conflicts for example in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines and Nigeria. 52. As noted by the Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the situation of indigenous women and girls is particularly critical in the context of armed conflict, given that they are already exposed to multiple forms of discrimination. That again shows the impact that intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination can have on indigenous women. 53. Examples of violence against women in a military context include the following: (a) In Colombia, indigenous women and girls are commonly subjected to patterns of rape, forced prostitution and exploitation in the context of occupation of indigenous land; (b) In Bangladesh, indigenous women face multiple forms of discrimination and there is a high prevalence of sexual violence, including as a weapon in community conflict in rural areas; (c) In the States of Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan, Myanmar, indigenous women are in daily contact with the soldiers of the Burmese army that occupies the area. The Rapporteur has found that rape of indigenous women is not only a form of “entertainment” for the soldiers, but part of a strategy to demoralize and weaken the indigenous communities. Soldiers reportedly use rape to coerce women into marriage and to impregnate women as part of the forced cultural assimilation policy; (d) In Fiji, India, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Timor-Leste, the militarization of conflict over indigenous land has led to gang-rape, sexual enslavement and killing of tribal women and girls; (e) There have been reports of indigenous women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo being victims of rape by armed groups and the military; (f) In north-western Kenya, British soldiers stationed in the area since the 1980s have reportedly raped more than 1,400 Masai and Samburu women. Rape survivors and their families still suffer from the legacy of those attacks, such as stigmatization of families with mixed-race children.21 Violence in the name of tradition 54. As discussed by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in her 2007 thematic report, culture-based identity politics can be used to justify violence against women in the name of traditional practices and/or values.22 Practices commonly carried out in the name of tradition, such as female gender mutilation and child marriage, impact some but not all indigenous communities. The fact that those traditional practices cut across religious, geographical and ethnic characteristics demonstrate that there are multidimensional causal factors and that no one factor attributed to the identity of women makes them vulnerable. Violations suffered by indigenous women and girls must be viewed within the context of the broad spectrum of violations experienced and their specific vulnerabilities as members of indigenous communities. 55. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 100 million and 140 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to female gender mutilation. 21 22 Mairin Iwanka Raya, Indigenous women stand against violence (see footnote 18); UN-Women and others, Breaking the silence (see footnote 4). See A/HRC/4/34. 15