Distinguished co-hosts – Ministers Wallström, Lövin and Linde,
Dear participants of the Stockholm Forum on Gender Equality,
I deeply regret that I am not able to join you in person, as today I present to the United Nations Security Council the annual report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence. Nonetheless, I am grateful for this opportunity to express my solidarity and well-wishes for your fruitful deliberations.
In particular, I appreciate the chance to share some reflections on the mandate for which I assumed responsibility in June 2017 – the eradication of sexual violence as a tactic of war and terrorism, a crime that is now, for the first time in history, recognized as an impediment to the maintenance or restoration of peace and security. Today, conflict-related sexual violence is rightly considered as serious a security threat as nuclear and biological weapons, terrorism, and arms proliferation.
In my mission, I have the fortune to build on the work of the two inspirational leaders who were my predecessors: Margot Wallstrom, the first Special Representative appionted, who outlined the strategic vision and priorities that have put us on a trajectory of transformative change; and, Zainab Bangura, under whose stewardship national ownership, leadership and responsibility has begun to take root.
Even as we work together to reinforce their efforts, it is critical to chart a course for the mandate that addresses new challenges and reflects the deeper understanding of the problem gained over the past decade.
Since assuming office, my primary emphasis has been on engaging with survivors in order to ensure that their needs and perspectives direct and drive all our strategies and interventions.
The survivors I have met so far – women in eastern DRC, the Chibok girls in Nigeria, survivors of sexual slavery in Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of the Iraqi Yezidi community, survivors in Sudan Darfur, and Rohingya women and girls who have fled their ancestral homeland in Myanmar – all expressed a thirst for justice, as urgent as their needs for health services, psychosocial support, education and livelihood opportunities.
Therefore, the continued focus on accountability for sexual violence remains fundamental and essential. Throughout history, the reign of silence, impunity and denial has meant that these crimes continued unabated. A central component of my vision for this mandate is to translate accountability into deterrence and behavioural change, and prosecution into prevention.
We have made some important gains in this regard both at international and national levels, but we have not yet reached the tipping point at which fear of accountability effectively restrains the behaviour of perpetrators. Accountability must become the rule, rather than the rare exception. We must change the calculus that has made rape a cheap and effective weapon of war and terror. It is through the consistent and predictable application of justice that we will convert cultures of impunity into cultures of deterrence, and break the vicious cycle of vengeance and violence.
But even as we focus on accountability of perpetrators, we cannot ignore the fact that reparative justice is the response that survivors want most, yet receive least. The livelihood support that survivors so desperately require in order to pick up the pieces of their lives must be explicitly factored into our peace-building and development agendas.
Secondly, I believe that a holistic approach is required, based on the fundamental understanding that structural gender-based discrimination is the invisible driver of these crimes, in times of war and peace.
Women are disproportionately affected due to their lack of economic and social capital, and their lack of representation on the frontlines of law enforcement, throughout the justice and security sector, and at all levels of political power.
We see time and time again that the lower a woman’s status in society, the greater her exposure and vulnerability to violence. Protection from violence is inextricably linked to fostering equality and social justice in communities. Protection and participation are inextricably linked. Both must happen, or neither will.
Unlike other prohibited tactics of warfare, such as the use of chemical weapons and landmines, sexual violence comes from and reproduces unequal gender relations. Whoever the perpetrator, and whatever the purpose of the attack, the destructive impact of sexual violence comes from gender ideologies that humiliate and silence victims.
At the same time, the global policy regime that has emerged to respond to conflict-related sexual violence has thus far focused on this type of violence as a profound insecurity that must be addressed at the strategic and tactical level, without sufficiently highlighting the connections between the sources of insecurity in women’s lives both in times of peace and in war, or to place these specific forms of gendered violence on a continuum of violence. Effective conflict prevention, therefore, must begin from an understanding of the broad and deep insecurities that permeate women’s lives prior to conflict, and the ways that pre-conflict structural inequality can facilitate violence and insecurity. Sexual violence does not happen by accident, it is related to the structure of the society and communities.
I would like to conclude with a call to action, to governments, regional organizations, journalists, traditional and religious leaders, civil society activists, and survivors themselves – all of you gathered at this Forum have a critical role to play in your respective spheres.
At the same time, we must join forces as never before, leveraging our comparative advantages for maximum impact. We need to expand the circle of allies, stakeholders and champions, and sustain the political momentum generated in recent years, to propel real change. We must mobilize national political leadership and marshal resources for a sustained and sustainable response, that is equal to the scale of the challenge.
This is the moment – the future of gender equality and gender justice is in our hands, and we carry a massive responsibility for the legacy that we bequeath to future generations. We have the power to overthrow patriarchy and close gender parity once for all, but we must act in solidarity.
Thank you for the opportunity to share these reflections.