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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EGYPT: Sexual Violence - the Dark Side of the Revolution

This week alone, 91 women became victims of sexual assault over four days during the protests, says Human Rights Watch. Many women are breaking their silence at last. But it's a long battle.

UGANDA: Cops Lack Skills in Gender-Related Cases, Says Judge

The Police lack necessary to handle gender-related issues, Justice David Batema, has said.

Speaking at the female judges' conference at Protea Hotel in Kampala, Batema said member states in the Great Lakes region were asked to develop a police training curriculum on gender and violence so as to enable officers acquire skills in dealing with gender-related cases.

SIERRA LEONE: In Sierra Leone, Gender Minister Urges Women to Expose SGBV Perpetrators

The Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, Hon. Moijue Kaikai has called on women at community level to put hands on deck and collaboratively alert the police and his ministry on issues bordering on sexual and domestic violence so that the perpetrators would be brought to book.

DRC: Congo-Kinshasa: UN Strengthens Fight Against Wartime Rape

The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution strengthening ways to fight the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

U.N. agencies estimate more than 40,000 women were raped during Liberia's civil war from 1989-2003, as many as 60,000 in the former Yugoslavia during the early 1990s, and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998.

LIBERIA: Liberian women's war wounds fester

It is over a week since Ruth Flomo was last able to walk, the bullet lodged in her leg an agonising reminder of the terror of being shot in crossfire during Liberia's bloody civil war 10 years ago.

Flomo, then just a teenager, was caught in an exchange of fire between the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy and troops loyal to ex-president Charles Taylor as the conflict was nearing an end in 2003.

COLOMBIA: Colombia's Women Bear the Scars of a War Among Men

The hot and damp jungles of southern Colombia have been torn apart by war for more than 20 years. One of the most devastating and widely used weapons in the bloody struggle for power over this fertile and oil-rich land – once one of the biggest cocaine-producing regions in the world – is sexual violence against women.

LIBERIA: Liberian National Police Seeks More Female Recruits

Liberia's national police force (LNP) has begun an intensive recruitment program across the country aimed at women. The effort is part of the government's Poverty Reduction Strategy, which calls for women to make up 20 percent of the police, the army, and other security forces by the end of 2013.

GUATEMALA: Nobel Laureates: End Impunity for Atrocity Crimes in Guatemala; Respect Survivors

Five women Nobel Peace laureates today called for Guatemala to respect the rights of the survivors of atrocities committed under the rule of former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Suffering in Silence: Women in the Shadow of Srebrenica

The shadows of war still fall over the survivors of the massacre, but solidarity and practical support is giving women security and a place of safety.

INTERNATIONAL: States Accountable for Investigating and Preventing Violence against Women – UN Expert

An independent United Nations human rights expert has stressed the need to hold States accountable not only for investigating acts of violence against women but also for failing to prevent such violence.

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