I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to the University of Côte d’Azur and Bibliothèques Sans Frontières for organizing this symposium and for shining the spotlight on a difficult and painful subject- the scourge of conflict -related sexual violence often referred to as the “oldest crime of war” and the “ world’s least-reported and least-condemned crime”.
Sexual violence during conflicts, used as a tactic of war, terrorism and political repression is one of the most devastating forms of violence committed mainly against women and girls, but also men and boys.
It is an invisible, cheap and effective weapon of war – cheap and almost cost-free because perpetrators know that victims will not report due to stigma and shame, fear of rejection, fear of reprisals among other reasons and that they will enjoy total impunity; effective because it is intended to shred society’s fabric, to dehumanize, destabilize, the enemy and it does destroy not only the victims but their families and societies. It shatters lives and livelihoods, with consequences that echo across generations, including in the plight of children born of wartime rape.
This symposium is timely in providing space for a strategic reflection on what we know, and what is missing from research, policy, and practice.
- Evolution of mandate
My mandate as Special Representative was established through the unanimous adoption of Security Council Resolution 1888 in 2009 to tackle conflict-related sexual violence primarily as a peace and security issue.
The Security Council recognized the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence as a tactic of war and terror, and committed to bring all tools at its disposal to bear, including political, economic, judicial, and coercive measures, to ensure the cessation of violations and end the reign of impunity.
My role as Special Representative, is to provide coherent and strategic leadership to global efforts; to engage in political advocacy with governments, including military, police, and judicial officials; all parties to armed conflict (both State and non-State armed groups); and other strategic partners, including religious leaders, traditional authorities, and civil society organizations.
The Security Council adopted other important resolutions specifically on CRSV such as resolution 2331(2016) which condemned sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism – a response to transnational terrorist groups, such as Da’esh, which reduced women and girls to an expendable currency in the political economy of war. The last resolution 2467(2019) marked a turning point in calling for a holistic approach centred on survivors’ rights, needs, and wishes, that ensures their full and meaningful participation in the decisions that affect their lives. For the first time, it recognized children born of sexual violence in conflict as rights-holders.
My operational methodology is to secure commitments with national authorities in affected countries to prevent and address sexual violence, and to anchor these commitments at the highest level through concrete implementation plans and strategies. To date, my Office has signed agreements with 12 countries, the last one being Ukraine.
Since I took office in 2017, my three strategic priorities for the mandate are:
- First, prevention including through justice and accountability- converting cultures of impunity into cultures of deterrence through consistent, effective, and visible prosecution.
- Second, fostering national ownership, leadership, and responsibility for a sustainable, survivor-centered response. The survivor-centered approach views survivors not as passive beneficiaries, but as the co-creators of solutions.
- Third, addressing the root causes of CRSV, including structural gender inequality and discrimination, as its invisible drivers in times of war and peace.
- Overview of current trends and emerging concerns
While significant normative progress has been achieved at the global level, words on paper are not yet matched by facts on the ground.
If civilians continue to suffer sexual violence in situations of armed conflict, it is not for a lack of international norms and institutions to protect them. It is because existing norms are inadequately implemented and enforced. It is because existing institutions are not backed with sustained political and financial support.
A primary function of my Office is to prepare the annual Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, which serves as a global advocacy instrument and an official public record.
The last report covering the year 2022, paints a disturbing picture of sexual violence being used as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism and political reprisal. The gap between commitments and compliance, resolutions and reality, is evident on every page of the annual report which surfaced painful human stories – from mass abductions and rapes in the DRC, including the rape of 16 women during an attack on a mining site to brutal gang rapes of women in Tigray, Ethiopia, with one woman being raped by 27 Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers. That conflict alone has left more than 10,000 survivors of sexual violence in desperate need of assistance and redress. The current preparation of the 2023 report indicates the same trends. In 2023, I conducted 5 field missions. I went to Ukraine, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and the border with Sudan. On Sunday I will be traveling to Israel to gather facts relating to allegations of sexual violence during the attacks of 7 October 2023, and will also engage with the Palestinian authority and other relevant authorities in the occupied West Bank.
The reality is that we meet at a time when conflict-related sexual violence is again in our daily headlines and its unabated brutality on 21st Century battlefields and its recurrence with each new wave of warfare continues to shock the collective conscience of humanity. We are going through a massive and global turbulence, marked by multiple, cascading crises, an epidemic of coups, and the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War with over 110 million people now displaced. More than 600 million women and girls live in conflict-affected countries. Militarization and authoritarianism are on the march, resulting in shrinking civic space, virulent backlash on gender equality, and rising reprisals against human rights defenders and journalists, who bring atrocity crimes to the attention of the world.
In addition, an array of new actors, such as mercenaries and private military and security companies, are complicating attribution and accountability on contemporary battlefields. Climate-driven insecurity and displacement is increasing intercommunal violence, including sexual violence, notably in Somalia and South Sudan. At the same time, the security umbrella for humanitarian protection and assistance activities is closing, as peacekeeping missions drawdown in Mali, Sudan and the DRC.
In Ukraine, I heard firsthand the accounts of sexual violence perpetrated by Russian soldiers. The ages of the victims ranged from just 4 to 84 years old. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry also provided chilling details of sexual violence affecting victims of all ages- Russian armed forces raping girls when entering or occupying civilian homes; children raped, tortured, unlawfully confined, killed and injured; an 83-year-old woman raped by a Russian armed forces serviceman in her house in the presence of her physically disabled husband.
In Sudan, since the conflict erupted on 15th April between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, sexual violence against displaced and refugee women and girls has dramatically increased. Sexual violence remains a prominent feature of the unbroken cycles of violence in Darfur, where women’s bodies are on the frontlines of conflict. Young women have been abducted from dormitories and hospitals, shackled, and transported in the back of pick-up trucks by fighters, to be sold in slave markets in Northern Darfur.
Last September, I visited the border area, where I met with several Sudanese victims including a 7-year-old girl who, after fleeing with her grandmother, was raped in the refugee camp.
In June 2023, I visited eastern DRC where I met with many women and girls who had been recently raped. They stressed the daily risk of sexual violence while undertaking livelihood activities, such as searching for food, or collecting wood and water. These women faced an impossible choice between economic subsistence and sexual violence – between their livelihoods and their lives.
Some inroads
Although the challenges remain daunting, and new protection crises continue to emerge, we also see some signs of hope amidst global turmoil.
My Office continues to engage with the authorities at the highest-level to offer technical assistance and support in line with the agreements we have signed. We closely monitor all situations of concern, calling for restraint, unimpeded humanitarian access, comprehensive service-provision, and effective investigation.
Despite significant funding shortfalls, the two operational arms of my mandate, the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and the UN Action network, which comprise of 25 UN entities are supporting Governments to implement these formal agreements, reaching countless previously unreachable or invisible victims.
The Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, works closely with affected Governments to support the investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of crimes under civilian and military systems, legislative reform, the protection of victims and witnesses. The Team of Experts is currently supporting the national authorities and justice sector in over a dozen countries.
Over the past few years, we have noted a number of very encouraging developments in the area of justice and accountability as well as legislative reform, in DRC, South Sudan, CAR, Guinea, Iraq, Colombia. A few examples include:
- The opening in Guinea, of a landmark trial on 28 September 2022, exactly 13 years after a stadium massacre by the military which left at least 157 protesters dead and 109 women and girls victims of sexual violence, with the country’s former coup leader Moussa “Dadis” Camara among those charged.
- In Iraq, the Council of Representatives adopted the Yazidi Survivors’ Law, which provides reparations and other forms of support to victims of Da’esh atrocities.
- In Colombia, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace has opened a dedicated case on sexual and gender-based violence.
- In Nigeria, in 2022, sexual violence was included for the first time in an indictment against Boko Haram, contributing to evolving understanding and jurisprudence on sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism.
- In Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General has established a specialized unit on conflict-related sexual violence . My Team of Experts is providing training and operational support to the Specialized unit.
The UN Action Network has also leveraged its role to engage in programmatic efforts, joint advocacy, and knowledge building to better prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence. Just last year, UN Action implemented projects in the DRC, Mali and Ukraine to support survivors in their recovery and strengthen and build the capacities of local stakeholders, including Governments and civil society organisations. In total, the UN Action Network has supported more than 50 projects across 18 conflict-affected settings since 2009.
- Moving forward- Initiatives from OSRSG-SVC
When history looks back on these painful episodes – as part of the long litany of battles fought on the bodies of women and girls– we will rightly be asked what we did to honour our commitments. In this regard, I wish to highlight some key initiatives and tools developed to build the skills and will for effective action from my office to combat this heinous crime.
- Prevention Framework on CRSV
Survivors are my moral compass in the execution of the mandate. In all conflict countries, I meet survivors who repeat the same message to me: “what happened to them could have been prevented”. Sexual violence is indeed preventable. It is not an inevitable by-product of war. It is not collateral damage.
Unfortunately, for too long, most of the responses to CRSV, have focused primarily on intervening with affected individuals and helping the survivors after the violence has occurred. In discharging my mandate, I am guided by a firm belief that the earlier the seeds of CRSV prevention are sowed, the better and more sustainable their fruits will be.
Accordingly, in 2022, my office launched a Prevention Framework which aims to enhance both structural and operational prevention. The Framework will be rolled out in the countries falling within the purview of my mandate.
- Launch of Model legislative provisions and guidance on investigation and prosecution of CRSV-
In many countries, national legislation lacks a comprehensive legal framework that recognises all forms of sexual violence as crimes. Weaknesses in laws allow perpetrators to escape punishment and deny victims the right to remedy.
In 2021, my office launched Model legislative provisions and guidance on investigation and prosecution of CRSV which contains state of art legal provisions required to prosecute any form of sexual violence. My Team of Experts on Rule of Law is currently supporting a number of countries in their legislative reform process and rolling out the Model Legislative provisions.
- Children born of sexual violence in conflict as rights- holders
Throughout history and across diverse geographic spaces and contexts, children have been born of sexual violence in war and conflict zones and everywhere they are stigmatized by traumatized post-conflict societies as “children of the enemy”. They are marginalized and rejected within and outside families and exposed to a range of physical, psychosocial, economic, cultural and legal risks and harms.
Disturbed by what I observed first-hand during my missions to Nigeria, Iraq and Bosnia & Herzegovina about the extent to which these children and their mothers are stigmatized, I intensified my advocacy on the subject which resulted in UNSCR 2467(2019) recognizing for the first time the existence of these children as rights-holders. As mandated by the Security Council, I prepared a Special Report for the Secretary General which sets out a platform of legal, policy, and operational recommendations . Work is now underway in a number of countries for the implementation of these recommendations.
- Focus on Sanctions
Impunity for wartime rape remains the rule and accountability the rare exception. To break the vicious cycle of violence and impunity, we must use all the diplomatic and enforcement tools at our disposal. In recent years, I have been advocating for sanctions and judicial accountability measures to work in tandem. Accordingly, I regularly brief Sanctions Committees and make recommendations for targeted sanctions in the form of travel bans, arms embargos and assets freeze.
- Strong advocacy for Reparations
International law recognizes the right of victims to a remedy and reparations. While reparations are the most victim-centred justice mechanism and the most significant means of making a difference in the lives of victims, it remains the justice intervention that survivors demand most, yet receive least. My Team of Experts on the Rule of law is currently supporting a number countries to adopt legislation on reparations and to establish National Reparations Funds- from Iraq to DRC and Ukraine.
- F) Expanding the Circle of Allies
My office is continuously expanding its circle of allies through frameworks of cooperation with a range of stakeholders such as with treaty bodies, the Inter Parliamentary Union or Religions for Peace. I have also forged partnerships with a number of private sector actors, NGOs, and academic institutions. It is in this vein that I am here today as a result of my Office’s partnership with Bibliothèques Sans Frontières.
In 2019, my office also launched a Global Champions initiative and it is currently in the process of establishing a Youth Ambassador Initiative to empower the young voices who are at the forefront of this work.
- Conclusion
We stand at a crossroad in the history of addressing sexual violence in conflict. We have a choice to make -either to defend the gains we have made over the past decade and turn commitments into compliance and resolutions into solutions, or to retreat in the face of the new conflicts that have erupted on almost every continent.
If we are truly committed to eradicating the scourge of sexual violence in conflict in a sustained and meaningful way, we must confront the reality that implementation is grossly lagging behind and that this rule-based international order is under severe threat. The Women, Peace and Security Agenda has a transformative potential with its robust normative framework that reaffirmed that sexual violence in conflict can be prevented if we act boldly and decisively. It reminds us of the responsibility that we bear to care for survivors of these heinous crimes.
We know which path we are dutybound to take. As we navigate the long and winding road from rhetoric to reality, the plight and rights of survivors must be our moral compass.
We must rise to the challenge of our times. Inaction is not an option.
Survivors need more than our solidarity. They need tangible support in the form of accountability, reparations and economic reintegration, as well as significant investment in structural prevention.
Member States must recommit to ensuring that the robust global framework is no more an empty promise.
Protection from sexual violence, even in the midst of war, is not merely an aspiration, it is a legal obligation.
By helping to disseminate and socialize good practices and lessons learnt, every expert in this room, can help to maintain momentum to eradicate, and spare succeeding generations from this scourge.
Fifteen years after the creation of my mandate, we owe the survivors no less. Let us seize this opportunity for decisive, united action that is commensurate to the scale of the challenge.
I thank you for your attention.