Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

The international community should use this periodic debate as an opportunity to renew its commitment to the creation of a world where women, men and children do not have to endure the suffering of being a victim or a victim's relative of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.

May the Council and the United Nations membership more broadly heed the six areas of serious concern related to the situation in South Sudan and sexual violence in all conflicts, including in those situations that are not the focus of the international community.

in practice, peace agreements rarely make reference to the need to eradicate all forms of violence against all women and girls. They seldom include provisions linked to accountability for gender- based violence. Post-conflict arrangements hardly ever deal with the situation of women who have been subjected to violence during conflict and its aftermath.

Conflict-related sexual violence needs to be explicitly addressed in security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes. More has to be done to ensure that women are active participants in peace agreements and in the negotiation, design and implementation of post-conflict and peacebuilding arrangements.

Women's political, social and economic empowerment, gender equality and the mobilization of men and boys in an effort to combat all forms of violence against women are essential in long-term efforts to prevent sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations

With the aim of improving the overall situation of women victims of rape, we are making efforts to finalize the process of developing our second action plan for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) for the period 2014-2017, which contains important provisions for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence

We believe that the prosecution of sexual violence crimes, as well as national ownership and responsibility in addressing the root causes of sexual violence in armed conflict, are central to the prevention of such acts in the future. Sexual violence in armed conflict cannot be accepted as a cultural phenomenon. It is not an inevitable consequence of war or a lesser crime.

We are fully committed to addressing all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence in conflict. The protection of women in conflict situations and ending impunity remain our utmost priorities

Sexual violence is a form of psychosocial torture where the suffering of the victims extends to their families, and through families reflects the entire society, while the suffering does not cease after the act of violence is committed

Furthermore, Belgium shares the Secretary-General's concerns regarding the link between sexual violence and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combattant programmes and security sector reform (SSR) programmes. There is a real need to pay particular and additional attention to the gender dimension when planning, training for and developing DDR and SSR programmes.