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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WEST AFRICA: UNIFEM Partners with ECOWAS on Ending Violence Against Women in West Africa

A consultative meeting between UNIFEM (part of UN Women) and the Human Development and Gender Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was held in Abuja, Nigeria on 17 August, on a programme to end violence against women in the ECOWAS sub-region.

The programme was initiated by UNIFEM in 2009 and is funded by the Italian Cooperation.

PAKISTAN: 148 Balochistan Women, 168 Kids Disappeared by Force, U.N. Told

The Hong Kong-based Asian Legal Resource Center (A.L.R.C.) has called Islamabad to invite the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to conduct a country visit.

NORTHERN IRELAND: My Girls Could Have Been in Coffins Today

Holding hands, the three young girls sang and giggled as they walked to the corner shop in the summer sunshine to buy a loaf of bread.

But in one ugly moment on Saturday, this scene of childhood innocence was destroyed when a bomb exploded beside them.

ASIA/PACIFIC: Comfort Women Break Silence to Tell Their Stories

She had just been married when Japanese soldiers brought her to a tent camp in Yogyakarta and raped her every day for months.

“Black paint from my bridal makeup was still on my forehead when I was raped for the first time. I trembled with fear, curled up on my sleeping mat and cried terribly. But it was to no avail. They kept coming and I was afraid that they would shoot me to death,” said Sanikem, who was born in 1926.

UNITED STATES: Consent, Not Foreplay Fibs, Should Define Rape

A Palestinian man was recently convicted of rape by an Israeli court after he had sex with a Jewish woman who believed he was also Jewish.

The court said in its ruling that the man committed "rape by deception" because the woman would never have consented to sex had she known he was Muslim. Focusing not on the specific religion of the offender, but on the nature of free choice itself, the three judge panel wrote:

UNITED STATES: Sexual Abuse Of Female Detainees At Hutto Highlights Ongoing Failure Of Immigration Detention System, Says ACLU

A Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) employee at the T. Don Hutto immigration detention facility in Taylor, TX today was charged with sexually abusing numerous female immigration detainees.

AFGHANISTAN: How Settling With the Taliban Puts Women at Risk

"If you had to choose between saving a girl's life or enabling her to go to school, which would you do first?" This was Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reply when I asked him last month if the rights of Afghan women might be sacrificed for a peace settlement with the Taliban.

DRC: International Medical Corps Responding to 4-Day Onslaught of Mass Sexual Violence in Remote Congolese Village

International Medical Corps is responding to an incident of mass sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups over the course of four days in a remote village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, at least 150 women are believed to have been targeted.

IRAN: TV Confession of Iran Stoning Case Women Criticized

Amnesty International criticized the TV “confession” of an Iranian woman on Wednesday night in which Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, awaiting execution by stoning for adultery, appears to implicate herself in the murder of her husband.

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