The Taliban may be in retreat, but for the Afghan women and girls navigating the mountain passes to an uncertain future in refugee camps in Pakistan and elsewhere, the threat of violence and disease is far from over. As a child, I have lived through another war in South Asia – the 1971 war between Pakistan and Bangladesh – and I know the toll that wars take on families, especially women.

Refugees, most of whom are women and children, are some of the most disenfranchised people in the world. They flee their home with few possessions and begin an uncertain journey toward an unknown destination in the hope of a future. They are stateless people. The horrors that refugees face include not only fears about their physical security and future, but also concerns about their ability to access basic housing, nutrition and health services.

Women refugees face a double burden. The rape of women and girls is an unbearably common occurrence during war. The conflict in Afghanistan would appear to be no exception. Human rights groups have documented rape and sexual assaults by both Taliban and Northern Alliance forces during the past decade. Women are sexually assaulted not only as they flee their homes, but also in refugee camps. Sexual violence in refugee camps is so common that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has produced guidelines on how to prevent sexual violence and respond to survivors.

Women refugees also lack maternal health services. At least 66,000 of the Afghan women forced to leave their country are pregnant and do not have access to even the most basic obstetrical care. Even before the current military operations, the rate of maternal deaths in Afghanistan was the world’s second highest: A woman in Afghanistan dies every half-hour from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. And now the chances of an Afghan woman surviving a pregnancy have dropped even further. A pregnant Afghan refugee in a camp is not assured survival because they need access to extremely basic obstetric and midwifery services that are often unavailable in refugee camps. The United Nations Population Fund is trying to provide each pregnant Afghan refugee with a "birthing kit" containing a plastic sheet, a sterile razor blade to cut the baby’s umbilical cord and a string to tie the cord. The kits cost about $1 each.

Afghan women and girls, like all other refugees, need access to contraceptive services and information. People in refugee camps tend to experience increased fertility rates and to engage in unprotected sexual activity that increases the risks of sexually transmitted infections. Currently, less than ten percent of Afghan women in refugee camps in Pakistan have access to condoms and other contraceptives. Sexual violence against women refugees also mandates the provision of emergency contraception, also known as the "morning after pill." A shocking example of the vulnerability of refugee women is the report by UNHCR that 80 percent of the Rwandan women seeking rape counseling during Rwanda’s conflict tested positive for HIV.

It is important to ensure that refugee women can access safe abortion services. Afghan women are no exception to this rule. General studies have shown that unsafe abortions account for 25 percent to 50 percent of maternal deaths among refugee populations. While access to abortion will undoubtedly save lives, most Afghan refugees are not likely to be able to obtain such services. This is because the majority of Afghan women live in camps in Pakistan and Iran – two nations with restrictive abortion laws.

It is critical for the world to secure the reproductive health and rights of women refugees in order to relieve the special burden they face. The best way to accomplish this goal is to dramatically increase humanitarian assistance to all Afghan refugees and to ensure that adequate resources are available to address women’s reproductive health needs. In addition, to maximize the benefits of such aid to women, governments such as Pakistan and Iran should review laws that are harmful to women’s health. It is time to rise to the challenge of our convictions and our belief in a better world by ensuring that women refugees are not invisible casualties of the current conflict in Afghanistan.

Ms. Rahman is the director of international programs at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York.