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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DRC: Congo's Women Stand up Against Rape

In her early days as US secretary of state in 2009, Hillary Clinton went to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and was moved to tears when she heard first-hand stories about what rape had done, and was continuing to do to destroy women, families, communities.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: Breaking the Silence on Rape as a Weapon of War

She does not have a first name, nor a face. "No photos, please." Seated in a small dark room, her psychologist at her side, the "woman of Tuzla" will be her name. She is surrounded by cigarettes and medicines. Hers is a voice that tells the story of a war that ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina a little over a decade ago.

PHILIPPINES: Men In Biliran Supports Fight Against Women Abuses

Around 150 men employed in the different national and local government agencies in the province of Biliran, including male barangay officials, attended the first ever provincial forum dubbed as “Male Involvement in Eliminating Violence Against Women”.

UNITED STATES: Military Gender Roles Still Thorny Problem

Despite decades of official attention, women in the military face pervasive sexism and surprisingly frequent sexual assault from within the ranks, noted speakers at the recent Gender Justice conference at West Point.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Ouattara Forces Kill, Rape Civilians During Offensive

Forces loyal to President-elect Alassane Ouattara killed hundreds of civilians, raped more than 20 alleged supporters of his rival, Laurent Gbagbo, and burned at least 10 villages in Cote d'Ivoire's far western region, Human Rights Watch said today. Forces loyal to Gbagbo killed more than 100 presumed Ouattara supporters as Ouattara's forces advanced in their March campaign.

KOSOVO: Human Rights Serious Problem in Kosovo

Government interference in the judiciary, corruption, intimidation of the media, discrimination and harassment of members of ethnic and sexual minorities, violence against women and child labor exploitation, all remained serious problems in Kosovo in 2010, states the report.

COTE D'IVOIRE/LIBERIA: Refugees Report Murder, Rape, Abuse

Ivoirians who have fled across the border to Liberia have reported incidents of rape, sexual abuse and murder to NGOs and human rights groups working in Grand Geddeh and Nimba counties.

Children in villages in Liberia's Nimba County have told field workers at NGO Equip that they were forced to watch as their mothers were raped and then killed. In several cases, the children themselves were then sexually assaulted.

INTERNATIONAL: EWL Welcomes EP Demand for an EU Strategy on Violence Against Women

According to the adopted report rape and other forms of sexual violence against women should be classified as crimes in all EU countries, leading to automatic prosecution. The MEPs also call for an EU directive to combat gender-based violence.

CYPRUS: More Needs to be Done on Human Trafficking in Cyprus

Minister of the Interior Neoclis Sylikiotis has insisted that progress has been made in recent years to tackle the problem of human trafficking in Cyprus but more needs to be done.


The Minister was addressing a one-day conference which opened in Nicosia entitled "the Changing Facets of Trafficking in Human Beings: Challenges and Policy Developments".

COTE D'IVOIRE: The Case for Intervention in the Ivory Coast

As the world rallies behind the Libyan population, it is hard to understand why the Ivory Coast is just a footnote in international news and on the diplomatic agenda. In recent weeks in this critical West African country, hundreds of civilians have been killed, often in horrendous ways. New bodies turn up on the streets and in the morgues nearly every day with bullet wounds, slashed throats, and charred skin from being burned alive.

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