Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Let me conclude my statement with a word for the survivors of sexual violence. They are at the centre of our debates. Let us not forget them and the fact that, beyond bringing perpetrators to justice, the international community also needs to afford care and reparation to women and girls and men and boys that have been victims of sexual violence in conflict-related situations.

All of the information contained in the report is relevant for the Security Council in terms of its Charter-mandated responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The information that has already been collected by the reporting mechanism will make it possible for the Council to have access to “timely, objective, accurate and reliable information” on sexual violence in conflict.

The Council needs to be consistent in its decisions and reinforce the message that impunity is simply not acceptable, sexual violence is simply not tolerable and there can be no genuine security without women's security.

The unfortunate and sobering reality today is that women are still part of the battleground. They are marginalized, harassed, raped, abducted, humiliated, killed and forced to endure unwanted pregnancies, sexual abuse and slavery. Women are also still largely excluded from formal decision-making processes concerning peace and security.

Women and girls are targeted deliberately. Sexual and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict affects the dignity not only of victims and survivors but also of families, communities and societies. It causes moral and psychosocial injury and is used as a tactic of war to force the displacement of populations and to illegally acquire natural resources.

We support the Special Representative's call to strengthen national institutions in order to provide sustainable assistance to victims of sexual violence. Technical assistance may be provided, on request, to concerned States for reforming and rebuilding the judicial, legislative and electoral sectors, as well as for the economic, social and political empowerment of women.

We believe that the Member States concerned bear the primary legal and moral responsibility for preventing and addressing sexual violence. We urge the Special Representative to continue to work closely with Member States and regional organizations to ensure that such concerns are addressed.

We are grateful to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive briefing to the Council. The Secretary- General has placed women's protection issues high on his agenda and has put the power of the United Nations behind the efforts to combat heinous acts of violence against women.

The Council has set a good example by sending strong signals that sexual and gender-based violence is unacceptable. We should give due credit to the Security Council for transforming the protection of women in armed conflict situations from a soft to a hard issue.

Such mechanisms and measures have provided relief and justice to the affected populations, but it is a long haul. In that context, we support Special Representative Bangura's call to all parties to conflicts to immediately put an end to violence against women and make specific, time-bound commitments to ensure the non-recurrence of such acts, under the appropriate monitoring mechanisms.