War and Its Impact on Women's Situation War is violent and has a particular impact on women. They shared in all of the domestic tasks and enjoyed a large measure of camaraderie. But women can be vulnerable to the worst social and economic exploitation and violence. The civilian population organized small groups, often of girls as they are normally responsible for collecting fuel, to run across the lines at night. Sometimes men used girls and women as shields, sending them in front to explode landmines.
Economic changes brought by war are equally dramatic.
The growth of landlessness especially among women, the expansion of the informal sector as the formal sector and the number of jobs shrink. This terrain is especially fruitful for socially imaginative policy making. In major Angolan cities, women dominate the informal sector of the economy -buying and selling products and working out survival strategies for the household. Women may be better prepared to begin their own business and become entrepreneurs than men. But women market vendors are frequently robbed, verbally insulted and beaten by police.