Despite the challenges they are presented with when a loved one goes missing, many women prove resourceful and courageous. They organize themselves in groups in order to fight for access to information. Mothers, wives, grandmothers or sisters of men who have disappeared continue long after the conflict has ended to exert pressure on the authorities. For example, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo organized marches over many years in Argentina, demanding answers from the government as to the fate of their children.

The ICRC provides financial and technical support to associations of families of the missing, largely made up of women, and helps ensure that their interests are represented in various forums.