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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PHILIPPINES: No End in Sight to Violence, Poverty and Deprivation Afflicting Filipino Women

It has been said that the conditions of women and children reflect the state of affairs of that country. Thus, when President Benigno Aquino III declared in his inaugural address last June 30 that his administration would take a righteous path, that path should lead to the betterment of the conditions of women and children.

TIMOR-LESTE: Sexual Assault Survivors Face Long Legal Delays

As the number of reported sexual crimes in Timor Leste increases, survivors - mostly women and girls - must wait up to one year as their cases wind through a struggling court system.

DRC: More than 30 Women Raped and Beaten in DR Congo Attack

More than 30 women were raped in a coordinated attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo on New Year's Day, the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières has reported.

MSF said 33 women were raped in Fizi, South Kivu, in the eastern part of the war-torn country.

INTERNATIONAL: UN Votes to Name Alleged Rapists in War

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to name and shame individuals and parties to armed conflict that are "credibly suspected" of committing rape or other forms of sexual violence.

BURMA: The Women of Burma: Courageous Under Horrific Fire and Abuse

The Karen are one of the largest ethnic groups in Burma, with a population estimated to be around 7 million. The Karen people have long faced severe repression and oppression there, an historic reality that is now tragically (and surprisingly openly) repeating itself.

INTERNATIONAL: Women 'Watching and Waiting', Special Representative Says as Security Council Concludes Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict

"Women now are watching and waiting," Margot Wallström, the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told the Security Council today as it concluded its debate on that subject.

INTERNATIONAL: UN Votes to Name Alleged Rapists in War

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to name and shame individuals and parties to armed conflict that are "credibly suspected" of committing rape or other forms of sexual violence.

The council said it intends to use the list, to be compiled by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, "for more focused United Nations engagement with those parties," including imposing targeted sanctions.

SUDAN: End Lashing, Reform Public Order Rules

(Nairobi) - The arrest of more than 60 Sudanese women's rights activists on December 14, 2010, for peacefully protesting the lashing of a woman by police shows the urgent need to reform Sudan's public order laws and practices, Human Rights Watch said today. The system imposes illegitimate restrictions on a range of personal behavior and public expression and disproportionately targets women, Human Rights Watch said.

INTERNATIONAL: Security Council Steps Up Fight against Sexual Violence in Conflict

The United Nations stepped up its battle against sexual violence in conflicts around the world today with the Security Council calling for perpetrators to be publicly listed and punished with sanctions.

COLOMBIA: Parties to Colombia Conflict Raped Almost 15,000 Women in 2001-09 - Study

Colombia's armed groups and, to a far lesser extent, its army raped 14,779 women between 2001 and 2009 - or five women a day on average - and forced hundreds more into prostitution, a study has found.

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