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.

For more resources on this Critical Issue, visit PeaceWomen Resource Center >>

BURMA: 81 Women Raped, 36 Killed by Burma Army Soldiers: WLB

Within the 8-month long armed conflict against ethnic groups in Shan and Kachin States, Burma Army soldiers have raped 81 women and girls, of which 36 were killed, the Women's League of Burma (WLB) said.

GUATEMALA: 'Femicide' in Guatemala: Does the concept obscure more than it illuminates?

Two thousand women marched through the streets of Guatemala City last week in support of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. "Violence and impunity are still the major problems facing Guatemalan women.

DRC: Sexual violence in eastern DR Congo - signs of change?

During a fairly frenetic trip to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week I spent a couple of hours at the Heal Africa centre in Goma, one of several institutions in the region where victims of sexual violence are treated.

The compound was crowded. There was a lot of building work going on and the existing wards looked full.

INTERNATIONAL: Women Responding to War

Whatever would Aristophanes, the Greek playwright of antiquity, think of the new PBS documentary,Women, War and Peace?

SOUTH SUDAN: UK calls for clampdown on violence against women in S. Sudan

The UK's first ambassador to South Sudan, Alistair McPhail, has called for a focus upon tackling the country's violence against women ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Friday.

INTERNATIONAL: Violence against women highlighted

Support for women and children raped and tortured during conflict will be the focus of a new foreign policy initiative, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said today.

The Government's new national action plan on women, peace and security aims to increase the number of female peacekeepers and will champion the cause of those who faced gender-based violence in war zones and developing countries.

DRC: Sexual Violence and Gender: From Peace to Conflict and Back Again

More attention is being paid today to the inter-relationality between gender and war/conflict than ever before, raising interesting and often frustratingly confounding questions. For example, do the gender roles which dictate our wartime behaviour create a cyclical effect in which our behaviour in wartime further reinforces and defines our peacetime gender roles?

SOUTH ASIA: Deep Scars of the Bullet: Women in Conflict

One World South Asia

To mark the global 16 days campaign against gender violence that kicked off on Nov 25, OneWorld speaks to writer-activist Binalakshmi Nepram of Manipuri Women Gun Survivor Network who shares her absolute passion to empower women in conflicted areas.

PALESTINE: Palestinian Rights Groups Call For Legal Protection for Women in War

BETHLEHEM Palestinian rights groups spoke out Thursday on the role of women in conflict and peace-building.

Gaza-headquartered Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Israeli forces killed three women and injured 35 in 2011 in the West Bank and Gaza, in a statement to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Friday.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Guest Column: Running Out of Time on Violence

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the global 16 days of activism on gender violence campaign, and a decade of the annual commemoration in southern Africa.

Each year during the 16 days we stop and ponder achievements and accomplishments and assess how much further we still have to go.

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