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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DRC: Aid Worker Diaries - Overcoming Violence in DR Congo: CARE Assists Survivors of Sexual Violence

Three women from North Kivu share their stories of how CARE is helping survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in local communities and among IDPs.

OCEANIA: Pacific Nations Women Promised a Better Deal

Leaders of 15 Pacific Island nations have pledged to remove barriers to women's economic empowerment, end violence against women and pave the way for their increased political representation, at the conclusion of the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, last week. The meeting was also attended by the Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet.

HAITI: When 911 Isn't There: Inside Haiti's Rape Crisis Hotline

It is hard for most foreigners to understand the poor state of Haiti's infrastructure. Only 30% of the country's population has access to electricity. Haitian firefighters often lack basic supplies and local police routinely fail background checks. Due to the fact that Haiti's emergency phone number, 114, fails to work in most areas, alternatives were needed.

HAITI: Haitian Gender Specialists to be Trained by UWI

As Haiti continues to rebuild itself from the 2010 earthquake that left it in ruins, the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, took a different approach to its humanitarian efforts by facilitating the training of gender specialists from the country in an effort to strengthen their advocacy for gender rights.

COLOMBIA: Gender Policy is Failing Women in Colombia

Although Colombia seems to have a number of the right policies for improving gender equality, structural challenges and slow uptake risk making equality a distant goal.

INTERNATIONAL: Photographing Violence Against Women, Even in Norway

There is a reason that we rarely see photo essays of serious social problems from Norway.

There are relatively few social problems.

Norway has a well-deserved reputation as one of the wealthiest, safest, best-educated and most democratic countries in the world.

But this is precisely why Walter Astrada chose Norway as the place to complete his magnum opus on violence against women.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Women's Murder Rate Skyrocketing in Honduras

Women are being murdered in Honduras -- already deemed the world's deadliest country by the United Nations -- at a skyrocketing rate, according to figures released Sunday.

More than 3,000 women were killed in the last decade -- but more than 40 per cent of those murders happened in just the last two years, the national commission for human rights (CONADEH) said.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Sharing Ideas to Stem Violence Against Women

It's a crime that's rising in Seattle and across the country, and it is even more profound in places like El Salvador.

On Thursday, a group of women's-rights advocates from Central America met with Lt. Deborah King in the tightly packed offices of the Seattle Police Department's Domestic Violence and Elder Crimes Unit to learn about programs that deal with violence against women.

USA: New U.S. Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence Globally

In 2008, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, a multi-year effort to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world.

USA: Progress Toward a World Without Violence Against Women and Girls

Eqlima is a young girl from Afghanistan. She lived with an abusive father and stepmother who often beat her. They even set her hair on fire. She escaped to a U.S. State Department-supported women's shelter. The staff helped move her away from her father and stepmother, and now is helping her move in with her older brother.

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