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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PHILIPPINES: Steep Rise in Gender-Based Violence

Authorities in the Philippines are reporting a sharp uptick in the number of gender-based violence cases over the last five years.

“From 2006 to the present, there has been a constant increase,” Senior Superintendent Theresa Ann Cid, of the Philippine National Police (PNP), told IRIN.

SUDAN: On Intisar's Zina Charges and Stoning Sentence

On 22 April 2012, Sudanese judge Sami Ibrahim Shabo sentenced to death by stoning a young woman accused of Zina (adultery). Her name is Intisar Sharif Abdalla, married and a mother of three little children. The judgement itself is ruthless under any Islamic Sharia and Fiqh interpretation; stoning hasn't been applied to a woman for adultery in Sudan despite the country's fundamentalist religious legal system.

IRAQ and KURDISTAN: Where Arranged Marriages Are Customary, Suicides Grow More Common

With her father sitting nearby, 16-year-old Jenan Merza struggled to explain why she was lying in bed recovering from a gunshot wound.

Jenan Merza, 16, forced to wed a cousin, shot herself.

“I didn't know the gun was loaded,” she said, resting under a red-and-gold blanket in a stark room with a bare concrete floor.

NAMIBIA: Violence Against Women Triggers Protest

Windhoek — About 100 people, of whom 56 were men, held a peaceful march to protest violence perpetrated against women and children under the theme 'men for healthy relationships' on Saturday.

The march started at the UN Plaza in Katutura where men, women and children gathered to show they do not condone violence committed specifically against women and children.

INTERNATIONAL: UN General Assembly Cultural Event Will Spotlight Efforts to End Violence Against Women

The President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, is hosting a Special Cultural Event in the GA Hall on Wednesday, June 6th, featuring the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), with the aim of promoting UN Women and specifically boosting support for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Nobel Laureates Highlight Violence Against Women in Mexico, Central America

Increased militarization in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala has created more insecurity, especially for women, a report spearheaded by two Nobel laureates found.

KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyz Migrant Women Brutally Assaulted in 'Patriotic' Videos

The attacks follow the same scenario.

A naked woman lies sobbing as a group of Kyrgyz-speaking men brutally cross-examine her. They punch and kick her, pull her hair, and curse at her.

Sometimes, the aggressors shave their victim's eyebrows or threaten her with a knife.

COLOMBIA: Colombia Acid Victims Seek Justice as Attacks Spread

"All of a sudden you see some liquid coming towards your face and you think that somebody might have slipped, or that they want to get you wet," says Viviana Hernandez.

The 28-year-old Colombian recalls vividly the acid attack five years ago that left her with burns to her face, chest and hands, and cost her the use of her left eye.

"You never imagine that it can happen to you."

LATIN AMERICA: 'War on Drugs' Leaves Latin American Women Lives in Ruin

“Violence associated with the ‘war on drugs' and organized crime, which includes government corruption in some countries have specific consequences for women in Latin America”, said the Chilean lawyer Patsili Toledo, member of ‘Antígona' a research group of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a specialist in the subject of femicide in the continent.

INTERNATIONAL: Where Are Women's Rights in Plans to Tackle Rape in War Zones?

At an event in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office last night, the foreign secretary will launch a high-profile new initiative on tackling sexual violence in conflict.

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