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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EGYPT: Women Activists Beaten, Brutalized and Subjected to Sexual Violence

Continued Militarization: Increased Violence Against Women Human Rights Defenders During Dispersal of Cabinet Sit-in Women Activists Beaten, Brutalized and Subjected to Sexual Violence.

EGYPT: Egypt Women to Form Frontline of Cairo Battle

CAIRO: Egyptian female activists are calling on social networks to form a frontline of women at the stand-off point between the military and protesters in downtown Cairo scheduled for later on Sunday, in an attempt to halt the violence that has continued since Friday morning.

PHILIPPINES: Central Luzon Police 'Blow the Whistle' to End Maltreatment of Women

Photo courtesy of Sulekha.com

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines — In a bid to stop violence against women in Central Luzon, police officers here literally blew their whistles to dramatize their support for the Anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) campaign of the United Nations (UN).

PAKISTAN: Women-specific Bills Passed: Fourteen-Year Jail Term for Acid-Throwers

The Senate unanimously pass­ed two historical bills upholding the rights of women, The Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill 2010 and The Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill 2008, on Monday — indicating the changing status of the Pakistani women.

PAKISTAN: Horrors of Sexual Abuse in Conflict-Stricken FATA

Kashmala Bibi* says her cousin's breasts were cut into pieces when five militants walked into their house and saw the woman breastfeeding her child. One of the insurgents then asked the other women around to eat the pieces.

This is one of the many tales of horror recorded in a report titled “Impact of crisis on women and girls in Fata”.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: In the Land of Blood and Honey

Rape as a tool of war is uncomfortable subject matter. Not only are the stories of women in conflict unpalatable to watch on screen but they run the risk of resurrecting dormant trauma for the victims. Angelina Jolie's directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey tells the stories of women in the breakup of Yugoslavia, particularly Muslim women forced into rape camps and the Sarajevo siege.

EGYPT: Egypt's Attack on Women Protesters a 'Disgrace', Clinton Says

Egyptian women protesters “are being attacked, stripped and beaten in the streets” by security forces, a “disgrace” that dishonors the country, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

The top U.S. diplomat said Egypt's leaders, in the military and in its political parties, are excluding women from decision- making as the country makes its transition to civilian-led rule.

UGANDA: Women Up Gender Pressure

Gender activists have proposed a guide to monitor performance of governments in eliminating sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Great Lakes Region to ensure commitment towards addressing the vice.

USA: Crisis Group and Hilary Clinton Honour Women in Pursuit of Peace

Half of all peace accords signed in the last 20 years have failed—and one reason is that they were left to men. Swanee Hunt on the women leading the charge in fixing how war and peace are waged.

On Saturday in New York City, in a pedicab amid a sea of yellow taxis, I made my way a dinner hosted by Crisis Group, one of the world's most influential sources of advice on prevention and resolution of deadly conflict.

KENYA: Helping Women to End Sex-For-Fish Culture

For the past five years, Achieng*, a 35-year-old widow and mother of six, has sold fish on the Kenyan shores of Lake Victoria; like many women in the fish trade, Achieng often has to have sex with fishermen in order to get the best catch of the day, a system known in the local Luo language as 'jaboya'.

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