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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NAMIBIA: First Lady Calls on Namibian Women to Come Together to Deal with Domestic and Sexual Violence

Namibia's First Lady has called on Namibian women to come together and put robust effort in place to deal with domestic and sexual violence.

Penehupifo Pohamba indicated that women need to stand together to ensure perpetrators of violence against women and vulnerable people are brought to book.

AFGHANISTAN: Women Bearing the Brunt of the Conflict

The photo of Bibi Aisha, a 19-year-old Afghan woman, on the cover of Time magazine last week is unforgettable. Her eyes are betrayed and defiant. Her mouth is curled in a frown. Her nose isn't there, a scarred gap in its place.

It was hacked off by a Taliban fighter who married her at the age of 12, when she reached puberty, then punished her for fleeing his abuse.

SOUTH AFRICA: Rape Contributes to HIV/AIDS Spread Among SADC Women and Girls

The revelation by SADC Gender Programme's head Ms. Magdeline Mathiba-Madibela at a press briefing in Windhoek this week ahead of the SADC Heads of States Summit, that HIV and AIDS disproportionately affects Southern African women and girls as a result of sexually-related-violence and unequal gender relations is not only worrying but a great challenge to the sub-region's governments and human development efforts.

AFRICA: Women's Rights - Mobilisation and Implementation

'Deaths caused by pregnancy in Africa are more than all the deaths from AIDS, TB and malaria combined,' says Marie-Claire Faray. Faray, the vice president of UK WILPF (Women's' International League for Peace and Freedom), is speaking to a group of women from all over the diaspora who have gathered in London to mark the UK launch of African Women's Decade.

INTERNATIONAL: Wartime Rape No More Inevitable, Acceptable Than Mass Murder

The United Nations is trying to put sexual violence on the international policy map, telling political and military leaders that wartime mass rape "is no more inevitable than, or acceptable than, mass murder."

SOUTH AFRICA: Sexual Violence Rife at South African Borders

Unlike schools and offices in South Africa, the criminal gangs along the border between the World Cup hosts and Zimbabwe did not take a break because of a sports tournament.

ISRAEL: Women, Children Homeless After Their Tents Razed by Israel in Negev

Dozens of Palestinian women and children were rendered homeless after the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) demolished for the third consecutive time all tents set up in Al-Araqib village of the Negev region in place of their houses which were knocked down earlier.

IRAN: Campaigning Must Continue to End Stoning

Facing arrest, her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, fled to Norway via Turkey, where he was briefly detained. His wife and two relatives were held hostage in Tehran's Evin prison. They have since been released on bail. Non-government organisations campaigned forcefully on their behalf. However, few Muslim or non-Muslim leaders have spoken out against the criminalisation of adultery and its punishment by stoning.

INTERNATIONAL: UN Women Agency Must Confront Wartime Violence

Anticipating the appointment in the next few weeks of the highest-level United Nations official ever to promote the rights and status of women worldwide, peace advocates are demanding that the new office take on the issue of the unending violence against women in conflict zones—a plague that keeps spreading despite a decade of Security Council resolutions.

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