Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Earlier resolutions and resolution 1960 (2010) emphasize the primary responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for crimes, including acts of sexual violence. Nevertheless, national justice systems often lack the willingness or the capacity necessary for effective prosecutions.

As the Secretary-General notes in his report, impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence remains the norm in the vast majority of countries where it occurs. This impunity risks undermining public confidence in the nascent justice and security sectors and eroding the whole process of peacebuilding. It is therefore essential for the Security Council to step up pressure on the perpetrators of sexual violence.

As a particularly positive element, we welcome the inclusion in future reports of the Secretary-General of information on parties that are credibly suspected of being responsible for acts of sexual violence. This should provide a basis for the Council to formulate more focused responses, including, where necessary, the application of targeted measures and the consideration of accountability mechanisms.

Liechtenstein also supports the establishment of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence as another essential element of resolution 1960 (2010). The Council requires timely, accurate and reliable information in order to respond effectively to conflict-related sexual violence.

Wartime sexual violence has been the subject of one of history's greatest silences for long enough. While the Security Council has adopted landmark resolutions to try to combat what has been termed a weapon of war, United Nations actors on the ground still lack the necessary tools to fight this war crime.

Sexual violence is not inevitable. It is not cultural and should not be considered as collateral damage. When used systematically as a weapon of war, its purpose is to break the will of people by dominating them in humiliating and dehumanizing ways.

Resolution 1960 (2010), adopted by the Council today, provides them with some of these needed tools. The Council has requested the Secretary-General to list, in an annex to his annual report, parties that are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the Security Council's agenda.

My country welcomes the adoption of resolution 1960 (2010) today and the clear signal it sends from the international community to perpetrators of the savage crimes of sexual violence around the world that we will not stand idly by as the bodies of women are turned into battlegrounds and that those perpetrators will be held accountable for their acts.

It is my Government's hope that today's resolution will establish formal monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence, and generate insightful analysis of trends and patterns to better protect affected populations and inform targeted measures.

Female peacekeepers and women protection advisors are crucial in this sense. Where they have been present, local populations have more readily reported on instances of sexual violence. Today's resolution unequivocally supports their presence and the need to mainstream them.