Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

The Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) theme focuses on the incidence and prevalence of violence against women in conflict and post-conflict settings. Polarisation of gender roles, proliferation of weapons, militarisation, and the breakdown of law influence SGBV.

The risk of SGBV is heightened during conflict by aggravating factors, including the polarization of gender roles, the proliferation of arms, the militarization of society, and the breakdown of law and order. The subsequent long-term and complex impacts of SGBV continue to affect individuals and communities after conflict ends.

SGBV is addressed in all five resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. In SCR 1888, the Security Council expresses its intention to ensure peacekeeping mandate resolutions contain provisions on the prevention of, and response to, sexual violence, with corresponding reporting requirements to the Council (OP11). The resolutions deal with protecting women from violence (1820,OP3, 8-10; 1888,OP3,12); strengthening local and national institutions to assist victims of sexual violence (1820,OP13; 1888,OP13); and including strategies to address sexual violence in post-conflict peacebuilding processes (1820,OP11). SCR 1820 also calls for the participation of women in the development of mechanisms intended to protect women from violence (OP10).

Lastly, SCR 1960 creates institutional tools and teeth to combat impunity and outlines specific steps needed for both the prevention of and protection from conflict-related sexual violence. The new “naming and shaming,” listing mechanism mandated in the Resolution is a step forward in bringing justice for victims and a recognition that sexual violence is a serious violation of human rights and international law.

Addressing SGBV is an integral aspect of the overall Women, Peace and Security agenda. SGBV affects the health and safety of women, and also has significant impact on economic and social stability. The Security Council recognises that sexual violence can threaten international peace and security, and that it is frequently used as a tactic of war to dominate, humiliate, terrorise, and displace.

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General SGBV

Extract: 

We are a target and transit country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and for men and women subjected to forced labour.

SGBV Protection

Extract: 

Resolution 2331 (2016), put forward by Spain here at the Security Council, strengthens the legal framework in various areas, including with regard to sanctions, accountability, financial flows, and protection and assistance to victims, paying special attention to women and girls, especially when trafficked for sexual exploitation — and without forgetting that men and boys are also victims of trafficking. Spain is committed to the fight against

SGBV

Extract: 

A draft law that aims to punish the clients of victims of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation is being considered by Parliament. Let us recall here the words (see S/PV.7685) of Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, who exposed the sexual slavery perpetrated by Da’esh against civilian populations, in particular Yazidis in Iraq.

SGBV

Extract: 

Eradicating slavery and sexual violence, in particular in conflict situations, is an essential precondition for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

SGBV

Extract: 

Also, in July 2016 we convened for the first time the Federal Council for Combating Trafficking, which I have the honor of coordinating, with the aim of designing a federal strategy to eradicate human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of women in prostitution.

SGBV

Extract: 

This should be a familiar tale to the Council. We heard it ourselves in north-eastern Nigeria only last week. We saw it in the hands in the air when we asked the women there whether they had lost a child to Boko Haram. We saw it in their tears as they spoke of abducted daughters, of mass rapes, of grandchildren being born only to be enslaved.

SGBV

Extract: 

The proceeds of human trafficking are used as sources of financing for terrorism, compounding the threat to international peace and security. Crimes in that sphere are often accompanied by equally deleterious phenomena such as abduction, sexual violence and the proliferation of narcotics.

SGBV

Extract: 

We therefore strongly support the Secretary-General in following up on resolution 2331 (2016) by systematizing the action of subsidiary organs involved in counter- terrorism and sanctions, specialized agencies and the Special Rapporteur entrusted with preparing a detailed study on the difficulties of establishing guilt and/or responsibilities with regard to crimes of sexual violence and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especia

SGBV

Extract: 

According to the 2016 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 79 per cent of the victims of human trafficking are women and children, with a clear example being the Yazidi women and girls who were submitted to various kinds of slavery and torture by the so-called Islamic State. Due to that situation, a lot of them have had to leave their countries of origin to find more favourable living conditions.

SGBV

Extract: 

The resurgence of the phenomenon of human trafficking in armed conflict situations is all the more troubling since it leads to the forced marriage and sexual or domestic enslavement of women and girls, and to men and boys being trafficked into forced labour, if not enslaved outright or turned into combatants.

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