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Security Council
demands action to end sexual violence as a tactic in war
(New York, June
20,
2008 Ceegaag Online)
The Security Council yesterday
demanded that all sides to armed conflicts around the world
stop using violence against women as a tactic of war and
take much tougher steps to protect women and girls from such
attacks.
In a resolution adopted unanimously after a day-long
debate on women, peace and security, Council members
said women and girls are consistently targeted during
conflicts “as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil
fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members
of a community or ethnic group.”
The effect is to also prolong or deepen conflicts and to
exacerbate already dire security and humanitarian
conditions, particularly when the perpetrators of violent
crimes against women go unpunished for their actions.
The resolution demands that all parties immediate stop
sexual violence against civilians and begin taking measures,
from the training of troops and upholding of military
discipline procedures, to protect women and girls.
Sexual violence crimes should be excluded from amnesties
reached at the end of conflicts, the 15-member Council
added, calling on States to also strengthen their judicial
and health-care systems to provide better assistance to
victims of violence.
The resolution was adopted after dozens of speakers told
the Council about the appalling effects of sexual violence
during armed conflicts, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
saying the problem had reached “unspeakable and pandemic
proportions” in some countries.
Mr. Ban announced he will soon appoint a UN envoy tasked
entirely with advocating for an end to violence against
women.
Opening today’s meeting, United States Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said the truest test of the will of the
international community was the protection it gave to the
most vulnerable.
“When women and girls are raped, we cannot be silent… we
must be their advocates,” Ms. Rice said.
South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana C. Dlamini Zuma
called for “the silence” around sexual violence to be
broken. Many women were afraid to speak out about their
ordeal, the minister said, because they were so traumatized
and stigmatized by the crimes they endured.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Slovenia’s
Sanja Štiglic stressed the need for a gender-sensitive
approach to post-conflict countries, from awareness training
for judges and court staff to stepped-up efforts to ensure
that women’s voices are heard in decision-making processes.
Philomčne Omatuku Atshakawo, Minister of Gender, Family
and Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
where sexual violence has reached epidemic levels in the
east of the country, said such violence was leading to the
feminization of poverty.
Female victims were no longer able to work the land or
work at all, she said, adding that as a result the
Government was trying to introduce a range of measures –
economic, security and psychosocial among them – to
ameliorate the situation.
China’s Liu Zhenmin backed the Secretary-General’s
zero-tolerance policy against sexual exploitation of women
and girls by UN peacekeepers and urged troop-contributing
countries to boost their training and monitoring of their
blue helmets.
Security
Council
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