International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, 19 June
International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is marked on Saturday, June 19. The day as the name suggests is to create and raise awareness around sexual violence in conflict and also to come up with ways and strategies through which this can be ended throughout the world. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic has started cases of sexual violence in general have also increased.
One of the major problem with cases pertaining to conflict-related sexual violence is insecurity, fear of reprisals and lack of services. All of this has increased many fold due to the pandemic situation as victims now have very limited access to resources like adequate medical help and legal aid.
Many safe spaces and shelters are also closed due to COVID-19 reasons. It is certain if a horrendous thing like sexual violence needs to be ended then people across the world will have to join hands and discuss strategies that can help.
United Nations General Assembly on June 19, 2015 officially announced that June 19 will be marked as the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The main aim for doing so was to primarily raise awareness of the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence and honour the survivors and victims of sexual violence across the globe.
The day is also dedicated to give tribute to those who have bravely devoted their lives in making attempts to eliminate this social evil.
The date of June 19 was chosen in order to commemorate the adoption on 19 June 2008 of Security Council resolution 1820 (2008). On this day the Council had condemned sexual violence as a tactic of war.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary General in his statement has called sexual violence in conflict “a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and repression.” The virtual event hosted by the UN on this day will talk about “Building back better: Supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the context of pandemic recovery”.
International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, 19 June
The impact of COVID-19 on survivors of conflict-related sexual violence
The chronic underreporting of conflict-related sexual violence, due to stigma, insecurity, fear of reprisals, and lack of services, has been compounded by COVID-19 containment measures. Lockdowns, curfews, quarantines, fears of contracting or transmitting the virus, mobility restrictions, and limited access to services and safe spaces, as shelters closed and clinics were repurposed for the pandemic response, added a layer of complexity to existing structural, institutional and sociocultural barriers to reporting.
Proactive measures to foster an enabling environment for survivors to safely come forward and seek redress have become more urgent than ever.
The pandemic has laid bare the intersecting inequalities that plague our societies, as compounded by conflict, displacement, and institutional fragility. The only solution for these overlapping ills is an injection of political resolve and resources equal to the scale of the challenge.
Building back better
Building back better in the wake of this pandemic requires an inclusive, intersectional, and gender-informed approach. Pandemic recovery demands a paradigm shift: to silence the guns; amplify the voices of women, girls and all survivors; move boldly towards gender equality and address the root causes of conflict; invest in public welfare rather than the instruments of warfare, by reducing military expenditure and strengthening institutions; and shift the security paradigm to foster human security and the resilience of individuals and communities to social, environmental and economic shocks.
Promoting a new social contract
A gender-responsive global recovery from COVID-19 should not aim for a return to the pre-pandemic status quo, but instead promote a new social contract in which no one in power is above the law, and no one rendered powerless is beneath the protection of the law, with the ultimate goal of achieving true equality and justice. It entails decisive action to mitigate risks and prevent sexual violence, and to ensure that no one is left behind in the response.
Responses must be comprehensive, multisectoral, age-appropriate and survivor-centered, including life-saving medical care, sexual and reproductive health services, psychosocial support, livelihood assistance, socioeconomic reintegration support, and access to justice. Service coverage must reach survivors in rural, remote and border areas, as well as in refugee and displacement settings
2021 Event (virtual) — "Building back better: Supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the context of pandemic recovery"
Commemorating the 7th official observance, this year's virtual event is co-hosted by the Office of the SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Office of the SRSG on Children and Armed Conflict and the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations.
The purpose of the event is to stand in solidarity with the survivors and those working to support them on the frontlines, often at great personal risk, particularly in the current climate of intersecting crises. The event will provide a platform for strategic reflection on ways to integrate the specific rights, needs and perspectives of survivors of CRSV into national and regional COVID-19 response and recovery plans, to ensure they are not forgotten in a climate of intersecting crises and constrained resources.
Background
Definition and prevalence
The term “conflict-related sexual violence” refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. The term also encompasses trafficking in persons when committed in situations of conflict for the purpose of sexual violence or exploitation.
A consistent concern is that fear and cultural stigma converge to prevent the vast majority of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence from coming forward to report such violence. Practitioners in the field estimate that for each rape reported in connection with a conflict, 10 to 20 cases go undocumented.
