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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INTERNATIONAL: Why Women Are a Foreign Policy Issue

The most pressing global problems simply won't be solved without the participation of women. Seriously, guys. On a trip to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, not long after my appointment as the U.S. State Department's ambassador at large for global women's issues, I stopped for dinner with a group of Afghan women activists in Kabul.

AFGHANISTAN: In Afghanistan, Underground Girls School Defies Taliban Edict, Threats

Every morning in this mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, four dozen girls sneak through a square opening in a mud-baked wall, defying a Taliban edict.

JORDAN: French Embassy, UN Women Sign Agreement to Protect Women's Physical Integrity

The French Embassy and the UNWOMEN Arab States Sub-Regional Office signed on Wednesday an agreement to combat violence against women and enhance their human rights.

SOUTH AFRICA: Still A Nation of Rapists 18 Years On

Seven children under the age of 14 were being raped in Soweto in a day. Nearly 30 children were being raped every month. More than 100 were raped over the four months before we cast our first democratic vote in April 1994, leaving then-Soweto police spokesman Joseph Ngobeni to say: “We can't go on like this.”

But we did.

MALI: Armed Groups in Northern Mali Raping Women

Increasing numbers of Malian women are being raped by Tuareg rebels and armed groups that have swept across the north of Mali since the beginning of year, expelling all government troops from the region.

According to Corrine Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, who is currently on a mission in Mali, there have been reports of rape and sexual violence taking place in towns and villages across the region.

MALI: Women Come to the Negotiating Table for Mali's Peace and Transition Process

Mali is suffering from a threefold crisis, encompassing security issues as well as humanitarian and political concerns.

Since 17 January, the population in the north of the country has been severely affected by armed conflict. Physical insecurity has led to the exodus of more than 200,000 people, with three regions being occupied by armed groups. Food insecurity is also affecting more than three million people.

USA: Alaska Tribes Say Violence Against Women Act Could Harm Their People

Alaska Natives are lining up in opposition to Lower 48 tribes over the congressional reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

TIMOR-LESTE: East Timor: New President, Same Problems for Women

The recent election of José Maria de Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak as he is known, to the Presidency of Timor-Leste is not good news for women in that country.

Adding yet another member of the male military elite to a position of great prestige and power will not increase the political participation of women nor add to a culture of gender equity.

ARAB SPRING: 'Why Do They Hate Us'

In "Distant View of a Minaret," the late and much-neglected Egyptian writer Alifa Rifaat begins her short story with a woman so unmoved by sex with her husband that as he focuses solely on his pleasure, she notices a spider web she must sweep off the ceiling and has time to ruminate on her husband's repeated refusal to prolong intercourse until she too climaxes, "as though purposely to deprive her."

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