Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

The proceedings of the Council today will add to the edifice created by resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009) and 1888 (2009). Those and other decisions of the Security Council on, inter alia, sexual violence, children and the protection of civilians have led to a significant addition to the corpus of international law.

Thanks to the resolve of the international community the operational and peacekeeping activities of the United Nations has been oriented towards recognizing the plight of women and children in conflict areas and being proactive in working towards preventing violence against them. India supports those developments.

No country can be absolved from the responsibility of acting against sexual violence, one of the more abhorrent forms of violence against women. My delegation is committed to international regimes that further those objectives.

Martin Luther King once said that injustice anywhere diminishes justice everywhere. We believe that the perpetrators of those crimes must be brought to justice. Relevant national capacities must be strengthened.

The appointment of Ms. Wallström in February this year was an important signal that increased and focused action would be undertaken in the fight against the scourge of sexual violence in conflict.

Moreover, we must strive to find better ways of guaranteeing the safety and physical integrity of women and children during armed conflict. This includes early warning mechanisms, as well as more awareness-raising campaigns and pertinent training, including the training of peacekeepers. Germany supports several training programmes and awareness- raising campaigns on sexual violence, in close cooperation with United Nations entities.

Finally, victims of sexual violence and abuse need help to treat the physical and mental scars left on them and their families and to enable them once again to actively participate in communal life. States must therefore provide adequate protection services and find prompt and non-bureaucratic ways to support victims, where appropriate with the help of the United Nations system.

Collecting data is not enough, but it is a much- needed first step in the fight against impunity. Perpetrators have to be brought to justice. Bearing in mind the main responsibility of States to investigate and prosecute those abominable crimes, international cooperation and the continued leadership of the Security Council are also of utmost importance.

As exact data is indispensable to taking timely and concrete action to prevent and react to sexual violence, Germany fully supports the creation of a new mechanism that may help to collect relevant data.

The violation of the rights of women is one of the principal characteristics of various conflicts across the world in both conflict and post-conflict situations. Unfortunately, 10 years since the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000), the plight of women and girls in armed conflict is still dire. Regrettably, the war in Georgia in August 2008 was no exception in that sense.