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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MEXICO: Drug War: Mexican Citizens Fed up With the Bloodshed

Margarita Lopez begins to speak about the horrible events that marked the end of her daughter's life in a low, even tone. Some 40 women in a plush Washington, D.C. meeting room listen silently as tears roll down their cheeks.

NEPAL: Women Empowerment Nepal's top Development Agenda

“Following the political change of 2006, concrete steps have been taken to empower women and increase the proportion of their involvement at all levels of decision-making,” said Adhikari while addressing the Third Committee of the sixty-seventh session of the UN General Assembly on Agenda item 28 Advancement of Women on Wednesday.

PAKISTAN: Violence Against Women High in Peshawar

Other districts are Lahore, Okara, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Gujrat, DG Khan, Pakpattan, Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Mirpurkhas, Sheikhupura and Ghotiki, said the ‘Violence Against Women In Pakistan Monitor (Jan-June 2012) report released here on Tuesday.

COLOMBIA: Impunity Persists in Sexual Violence Against Women

Despite laws, resolutions, decrees, protocols, and directives against gender-based violence, women victims of sexual violence during armed conflict face tremendous challenges in seeking justice, including discrimination, stigmatization, and the inexistence of a holistic strategy to combat impunity in these cases.

PAKISTAN: Culture of Impunity Blamed for Violence Against Women

The report adds that the FIRs of around 59 per cent of the cases in the province were not registered.

An overwhelming impunity granted to perpetrators of violence against women has led to a steady rise in the number of cases across Pakistan, the report says.

GUATEMALA: Sexual Slavery Wounds Persist in Guatemala

Fifteen brave Guatemalan women from the indigenous q'eqchí people testified before the High Risk Court in Guatemala City on Sept. 24-28, as part of the first criminal trial for sexual slavery and rape during the armed conflict.

INTERNATIONAL: Eradicating Sexual Violence in Conflict Not 'a Mission Impossible' – UN Senior Official

“As daunting as the road ahead is, I do not think eradicating sexual violence in conflict is a mission impossible,” the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, told reporters in Geneva.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Clerics Denounce Violence Against Women

Afghan women's safety activists say a new partnership with religious leaders can help stop Taliban attacks on girls and women that have left a Pakistani teen activist for girls just across the border in Swat Province undergoing brain surgery after a gunshot execution.

RWANDA: Govt to Set Up Centres to Treat Victims of GBV

The UN Women, in Partnership with the Ministry of Health, plans to establish one-stop centres to combat domestic violence in every district in order to extend services closer to victims.

UN Women specialist, Dona Kamashazi, announced this at a news briefing in Kigali yesterday ahead of the Global Open Day for Women and Peace.

PAKISTAN: Violence against women: 'Sexual violence increasing in K-P'

Activists said the provincial government should appoint an ombudsperson to redress women's complaints against harassment and discrimination at the workplace, as required by the anti-sexual harassment law. The appointment was first suggested in the Sexual Harassment Bill 2010.

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