If a nation refuses to prosecute domestic sexual abuse, marital rape and honour killings in times of peace, then there is little hope for justice in times of war and conflict.
We must all strive to be as innovative as we can in motivating national leaders to adopt the agenda of women and peace and security as their own. We must be more ambitious in addressing the root causes of sexual violence in conflict — women's second-class status and the culture of impunity. And we must seek to promote women's political and economic empowerment as crucial to the long-term prevention of sexual violence.
The United Nations generally seeks to be as practical and operational as possible in its approach, and we welcome that. For example, there is an increasing focus on training national security-sector actors in confronting sexual violence in conflict. There is certainly room to improve the protection afforded to women and girls from violence in humanitarian emergencies.
Last September's Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict was endorsed by 145 countries, and the United Kingdom will continue its leadership on the issue with a global summit to be convened in June. The Secretary-General has rightly concluded that at the global level there is now unprecedented commitment and momentum for decisively addressing the scourge of sexual violence in combat.
Ireland was happy to be associated yesterday with an event on Burma/Myanmar organized by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security to look at issues around sexual violence in conflict. The Special Representative and a representative of Burmese civil society, Ms. K'nyaw Paw, participated in the event.
Conflict-related sexual violence is a particularly heinous and barbaric crime. It is undoubtedly underreported, yet even so the recent Secretary-General's report (S/2014/181) presents an extensive catalogue of crimes that are ongoing in 20 different country situations in conflict and in post-conflict settings. The victims — women and girls, men and boys — are invariably among the most vulnerable in their societies.
Along with the international community, civil society actors in the countries concerned play a crucial role. The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Mary Robinson, is reaching out to women's groups and civil society in that region.
While we applaud the evolvement of a global normative framework on sexual violence in armed conflict, not least through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, resolution 1325 (2000) and others, it is a tragic fact that citizens, particularly women, in large numbers continue to be victimized in conflicts.
We believe that the development of the United Nations civilian capacities initiative, along with the advancement of other relevant United Nations and non-United Nations programmes, can enable greater capacity-building in the area of safeguarding women and their rights in conflict-affected countries. While taking such steps, it is also vital that women be seen not just as victims, but also as peace enablers in conflict.
