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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SOMALIA: Journalist Arrested After Interviewing Reported Rape Victim

A Somali freelance journalist has been detained without charge since 10 January after interviewing a woman who says she was raped by state security forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that Abdiaziz Abdinur was summoned by the Central Investigations Department (CID) last Thursday, in connection with the interview he conducted with the woman.

HAITI: Haiti, Three Years After the Earthquake: Empowering Women

When a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 – killing more than 200,000 people and leaving some 1.5 million homeless – the International Rescue Committee immediately dispatched our emergency team to help.

KURDISTAN: French Police Say Kurdish Activists Executed

Three Kurdish women activists, including a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have been killed overnight inside the Kurdish Information Centre in Paris, French police say.

Their bodies were found at around 2am on Thursday morning. All three were shot in the head.

ISRAEL: How Israel Leads World in Sex Trade Fight

Britain is being urged to look to Israel for lessons in how to combat human trafficking and rehabilitate victims.

Labour MP Frank Field and former Conservative MP Anthony Steen are among those praising Israel for making trafficking “a priority issue”, prosecuting perpetrators to such an extent that shelters that were once full of trafficked Eastern European women are now empty of them.

CAR: Briefing and Consultations on the Central African Republic

Tomorrow morning (Friday, 11 January), the Council will be briefed by Margaret Vogt, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA) via videoconference from Libreville, Gabon.

MALI: Malian Refugee Women Recount Ordeal

Scores of Malians have found havens in neighbouring Mauritania to escape the months-long conflict. But while the first batch of refugees fled the effects of the civil war, the more recent exiles had a different motive.

"The population of northern Mali did not want to leave their homes at all. The harsh practices of Ansar al-Din and al-Qaeda forced them to flee," Touareg activist Boubakar Ansaru says.

INDIA: Youths Protest Violence Against Women in J&K

Srinagar: In the backdrop of a recent acid attack on a school teacher, a group of youths on Thursday staged a demonstration demanding speedy justice in cases of violence against women.

AFRICA: Rape in War: It's Not a Given Any Longer

One of Fatou Bensouda‘s missions as the new chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is to make rape during conflicts a thing of the past.

INDIA: How a Brutal Murder Finally Puts Sexual Violence on the Agenda

When news broke late last month about the death of a 23-year-old woman who died after succumbing to horrified injuries sustained from a brutal attack on a bus in New Delhi, there was horror expressed around the world.

NEPAL: Nepalese Protest Violence Against Women

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's residence in Nepal for a 10th day to protest against the alleged rape and robbery of a maid by officials and other violence against women.

The protesters chanted slogans on Sunday demanding the government punish those involved in crimes against women and that authorities do more to protect women in the Himalayan nation.

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