Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Italy welcomes the Security Council's adoption of resolution 2106 (2013), regarding sexual violence in conflict, which signals the commitment of the Council to address an issue that is key to international peace and security.

Italy has placed a high priority on the protection of women against sexual violence in its human rights policy. Last week, the Italian Parliament ratified the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. We strongly encourage States to ratify this important instrument.

Fourthly, national authorities should be supported in their efforts to fight against impunity. Governments have the primary responsibility to protect their populations from sexual violence and to ensure that justice is done. The international community must stand ready to provide technical assistance and capacity- building, and to help strengthen the rule of law.

Finally, Italy will enhance its support for the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, which is the global grant- making mechanism dedicated to addressing violence against women and girls in all of its forms, including sexual violence.

Fifthly, cooperation should be enhanced between the Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC), in particular when dealing with cases of sexual violence. The perpetrators of large-scale sexual violence should never benefit from differences of opinion within the Council on a specific situation. Well-documented crimes should act as a clear basis for fast-track referrals by the Council to the ICC.

We cannot hope to tackle the issue of sexual violence in conflict while even in times of peace women are victims of gender bias and discrimination. The first step is to address the significant gaps that exist in many countries' legal systems. Violence against women takes root in cultures of discrimination that relegate women to second-class citizens and deny them the political, legal and economic rights that men enjoy.

This fall will mark 13 years since the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 (2000) and three years since it adopted resolution 1960 (2010). Those resolutions reflect the international community's desire to advance gender equality and denounce sexual violence in conflict.

Israel believes that women's rights are integral to building a just society in which all citizens live free of violence and their human rights are respected and protected. Israel is proud to sponsor resolution 2106 (2013) as we have with all previous resolutions on women and peace and security.

In Syria, under Bashar Al-Assad's brutal regime, the death toll has surpassed 93,000, and more than one-third of the population requires humanitarian assistance. The Syrian army and its State-sponsored militia, known as the Shabbiha, have employed sexual violence as devastating weapons in a ruthless campaign of intimidation.

In certain States, thousands of women are victims of so-called honour killings. Owing to weak and indifferent justice systems, perpetrators who claim to have preserved family honour are rarely prosecuted, or if they are, they receive light sentences. In those instances, women are victimized twice — first by the perpetrator of the crime and then by an indifferent justice system.