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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PAKISTAN: Pakistan Only South Asian State Yet to Pass Law on Domestic Violence

Researchers and practitioners on violence against women (VAW) from all over South Asia gave country presentations and discussed legal structures established and practised in their respective countries on the first day of South Asian Conference on violence against inaugurated here on Thursday.

INTERNATIONAL: Countries Must Treat Sexual Violence as Serious Security threat – Top UN Officials

Sexual violence in conflict represents a threat to peace and security and is not just a health or human rights issue, top United Nations officials told Member States today at a mini-summit on preventing and responding to sexual violence in conflict.

INTERNATIONAL: Women, War and Peace Debuts on PBS October 11

This week in NY was the annual opening of the UN General Assembly where heads of states make their speeches. Seeing all these dudes stand up at the podium while the world is a total mess one thing is clear—we need more women's voices involved at all levels of government and diplomacy.

HORN OF AFRICA: On Top of Famine, Unspeakable Violence

IMAGINE that you're a Somali suffering from the drought and famine in that country. One of your children has just starved to death, but there's no time to mourn. Depleted and traumatized, you set off on foot across the desert with your family, and after 15 exhausting days finally reach what you believe is the safe haven of Kenya.

AFGHANISTAN: What Went Wrong for Afghanistan's Women?

Women's rights have been central to the war in Afghanistan. Remember when Cherie Blair and Laura Bush joined forces to bolster the rationale for invasion back in 2001? Suddenly, the west developed a passionate concern for the position of women in the country; there were films, books and documentaries about the high rates of maternal mortality, girls being married off young and low levels of female literacy.

INTERNATIONAL: "The Whistleblower" Film Sharpens Issues of Sex-Trafficking at the UN

In 1999, Kathryn Bolkovac, a single mother from Nebraska and a seasoned cop, joined the U.N. peacekeeping force in Bosnia, a country still in tumult after its brutal civil war. Her job was to investigate the sex trafficking of young women from Eastern Europe. Once she began collecting evidence from the victims she discovered that a number of U.N.

INTERNATIONAL: States Urged to Give Generously to UN Fund Helping Victims of Modern Slavery

The United Nations human rights office is appealing to Member States to give generously to an important fund that has for the past 20 years given grants to grassroots initiatives that help victims of slavery transform their lives.
The UN Voluntary Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery has seen a marked decrease in donations received in recent years, according to the office (OHCHR).

SOMALIA - KENYA: Refugees at Risk of Sexual Violence

Amina*, 27, left her home town of Kismayo in south-central Somalia at the end of May for northern Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp. The journey took her and her four children 14 days and nearly broke them, but between the famine and the conflict, she was afraid that staying in Somalia could mean death.

INTERNATIONAL: Humanitarian Aid For Rape Victims

On his third day in office, President Obama issued an executive order lifting the odious “global gag rule” that denied federal money for family planning work abroad to any group that performed abortions or counseled about the procedure, even with its own money.

OCEANIA: Way Forward for Regional Action Plan on Women/Peace/Security

After more than 10 years since it was passed, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) is gaining more attention with the opportunity to develop and present a Regional Action Plan at the 2012 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.

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