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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INTERNATIONAL: Mass Rape During Armed Conflict Increases HIV Infections

Mass rape could be causing thousands or even tens of thousands of HIV infections annually among women and girls in conflict-afflicted countries in Africa, according to mathematical modelling by Virginie Supervie and Sally Blower of UCLA and Yasmin Halima of the Global Campaign for Microbicides.

INTERNATIONAL: Feminism is Failing in the War Against Women

In a chilling ABC radio interview last week, a young Palestinian man calmly described how he repeatedly smashed his sister's head against the wall until he killed her.

Khaled Mahmood explained this was an "honour" killing, as his sister had shamed the family by sleeping with a man of her choice. She had to be obliterated. It seems the police agreed. No charges were laid.

INTERNATIONAL: Mass Rape and HIV in Conflict-Affected Countries: Despite Relatively Low Incidence, Researchers Stress Urgency of Interventions for Thousands of Women in Need

Mass rape during armed conflict may account for several thousand new cases of HIV per year in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an article in the journal AIDS.

Researchers drew this conclusion after analysing data from seven conflict-affected countries with high HIV prevalence: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

USA: US Activist Defends Immigrant Women Against Gender-Based Violence

Layli Miller-Muro wasn't even out of law school before she helped litigate a case that revolutionized asylum law in the United States.

The case involved Fauziya Kassindja, a 17-year-old girl who fled the West African country of Togo to avoid a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation.

DRC: Rape Victims Seek Help in Exile

A United Nations report about to be released on human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1993-2003 lists rape among the abuses committed. Sexual violence against women shatters victims' relationships with their families and society. Many seek refuge abroad, including in Switzerland.

DRC: Rape in Congo Can Be Death Sentence to Women (Opinion)

Rape as a weapon of war continues to take a heavy toll on women's lives in today's conflicts around the world. A high proportion of the women who are victims of rape end up infected with sexually transmitted diseases and infections, including HIV. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is experiencing an almost perpetual state of internal strife and lacks medicines and basic health-care services, particularly in rural areas.

DRC: Rebels Must be Prosecuted for DRCongo Mass Rape: UN Expert

A UN expert pushed Monday for the prosecution of rebel leaders for the mass rape of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, saying urgent action was needed "before the trail goes cold."


Margot Wallstrom, UN special representative on the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, singled out the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Mai-Mai militia.

RWANDA: The Fight Against Sexual Abuse Must Be Inclusive

We ran a story yesterday about the increasing number of rape and defilement cases in Nyagatare District. According to the district's Intermediate Court, on average, 45 out of 50 cases handled by the court, in a month, are related to sexual abuse with most of the victims, children under 14.

DRC: End Impunity in DRC

The culture of impunity, atrocities and violence against civilians and the plundering of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo must come to an end, MEPs said in a debate on Wednesday, 22 September. Parliament held discussions in light of a recent UN draft report (to be made public on 1 October) that documents the worst human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 1993 and 2003.

DRC: UN Mission Chief Concerned Over Violence in Troubled North Kivu

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today voiced deep concern over continuing violence in the eastern province of North Kivu, where the Government is investigating a series of recent killings.

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