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: A New UN Voice Calls for Criminalizing Conflict Rape

A decade after the United Nations Security Council demanded for the first time that sexual violence in conflict had to stop, a top UN peacekeeping official was in the council chamber this week trying to explain, again, how it was that hundreds of women, and children as young as 7, had been raped this summer within reach of peacekeeping troops in the lawless eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, now an epicenter of misery and abuse.

SEMINAR: To Remember Du'a Khalil Aswad

On the third anniversary of the stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad to death in public and in condemnation of all forms of violence against women join us in this public seminar to remember Du'a and all women around the world who were killed in so- called honour killings.

NEPAL: False Promises Lure Nepali Women into Sex Trade

Every year an estimated 10,000 Nepalese girls between the ages of nine and 16 are trafficked across India's open border and sold into prostitution. Interpol, an international criminal police organization, cites trafficking as a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow exponentially, with more than 200,000 Nepalese girls now working in the brothels of India.

DRC: Neither Rape Nor Bad Communication is Cultural - a Critical Look At Monusco's Press Conferenc

While recent events in the Democratic Republic of Congo have sparked international debate, at the UN, official declarations have lacked transparency.

In a press videoconference, UN Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo Roger Meece spoke on behalf of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

IRAQ: Woman Killed in Fresh Violence in Iraq

Continued militancy has taken the life of a woman in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh while others have been wounded in a separate incident in the capital.

Unknown gunmen killed a woman Tuesday afternoon in the al-Akidat region in central Mosul, Nineveh's provincial capital, a security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Election Threatened by Violence, Says Watchdog

Taliban violence and intimidation are threatening Afghanistan's parliamentary elections as the government fails to protect candidates, especially women, a human rights watchdog said Thursday.

Afghanistan is due to go to the polls on September 18, when around 2,500 candidates will contest the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga.

DRC: UN Weighs Sanctions Against Perpetrators of DRC Mass Rapes

The U.N. Security Council is considering leveraging sanctions against the perpetrators of the mass rapes that occurred last month in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a meeting held on the recent violence Tuesday.

HAITI: The Plight of Haiti's Women Eight Months After the Earthquake Life in Camps is Rife with Sexual Violence

Eight months after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, having no home is still not the hardest thing to bear. Thousands of women living in makeshift camps in southern Haiti dare not speak about the sexual and domestic violence they are subjected to in the camps. Faced with being stigmatized by police and society, or with revenge and impunity for the perpetrators, they remain silent—and some say the situation is getting worse.

DRC: UN Outlines Steps to Boost Civilian Protection in DR Congo in Wake of Mass Rapes

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has taken several measures to improve the protection of civilians in the east of the country following the recent incidents of mass rape, but establishing State authority in conflict-affected areas would be the most effective way to end lawlessness and violence, a senior UN official said today.

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