Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict:
Operationalizing Advocacy

"Nothing quite prepared me for what I heard from survivors of a sexual violence so brutal it staggers the imagination and mocked my notions of human decency. I cannot find the words to describe what I heard from the girls and women in Panzi Hospital, located in South Kivu province in the DRC, near the epicenter of one of the world's major humanitarian crises. What I do know is that I am not the same person now as when I walked into that hospital."  

- John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator

A young woman in Goma, DRC, blinded by her rapists to prevent identification, tries to rebuild her life 2 years after the event. [Photo: IRIN]

In 2006, OCHA invited Dr. Denis Mukwege, the director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, to come to the United States to raise awareness on the depth of the problem in eastern Congo. Dr. Mukwege is on the front lines of the struggle against sexual violence. In both his words and his deeds, he is a courageous advocate for the victims of this crisis.

OCHA also asked Eve Ensler to lend her powerful voice to the issue of sexual violence in the DRC. In December 2006, the two took the stage for “Healing the Wounds of War,” an event in New York organised by OCHA in collaboration with Ms. Ensler’s V-Day project, which shares the aim of eliminating violence against women.

Searching for additional opportunities for advocacy, OCHA also invited doctors working with Physicians for Human Rights and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) to UN headquarters to meet Dr. Mukwege, and asked that they create a programme to address some of the medical challenges facing Dr. Mukwege and his team.

City of Joy

These two initiatives saw OCHA operationalize its advocacy around sexual violence, and would lead to more concrete changes for women affected by this devastating scourge. Several months later, when Ms. Ensler visited the DRC, UNICEF and V-Day laid the groundwork for the City of Joy, a safe house to be created at Panzi Hospital for women and girls to allow them to recuperate after their surgery, and to gain skills to help them achieve financial independence.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the City of Joy, the First Lady of the DRC, Mrs. Olive Kabila, launched the campaign “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power to Women and Girls of Democratic Republic of Congo,” in conjunction with the women of eastern DRC, V-Day, and UNICEF on behalf of UN Action.  The campaign calls for an end to the violence and impunity for those who commit these atrocities.

Building Capacity

Dr. Denis Mukwege with his patients at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC [Photo: Paula Allen/V-Day]

Following a meeting in New York with Dr. Mukwege, HHI began working with Panzi Hospital to enhance their surgical capacity. Since an initial trip, HHI has sent several additional teams of surgeons and researchers to the hospital to perform gynecologic surgery, set up training programs and initiate research to address the root causes of this epidemic of violence.

On the research side, HHI is conducting field studies to evaluate the community dynamics of sexual violence in Eastern DRC, including utilizing data from community based surveys, hospital data and focus groups. In addition, HHI is hosting an expert panel on gender and war that includes participation of OCHA and several other organizations.

Testimonials and Criticism

In October 2007, OCHA successfully advocated with the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations to expand a planned Arria Formula meeting on women in situations of armed conflict in Africa. Chaired by France’s Human Rights Minister Rama Yade, the meeting highlighted the testimonies of former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner Mary Robinson and Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) Bineta Diop, following their visit to the Chad and Darfur. It also included the potent and compelling accounts of Eve Ensler, who had recently returned from DRC. 

Robust advocacy around SGBV also came from UN Action and its partners, in particular Peace Women, Oxfam and International Rescue Committee, and from former Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, and Yakin Eturk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences.

Criticism directed at the Security Council noted that although the Council had recognized that sexual violence continues to manifest itself throughout many conflicts, little had been done to address it as a threat to peace and security, even in post-conflict situations.

Joining Forces

Recently there have been a number of relevant initiatives within the UN. These include Security Council and Arria Formula meetings on Women, Peace and Security, and the 40th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), where in February 2008 the Secretary-General launched his UNite Campaign to End Violence against Women. The Campaign, which OCHA is supporting, calls on Governments, civil society, the private sector, the media and the entire UN System to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls. 

On 27 May 2008, ERC John Holmes addressed the issue of sexual violence in his speech to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians, reiterating his call for improved reporting on sexual violence, and highlighting the need to improve the administration of justice for these crimes. Under-Secretary-General Holmes also underlined the importance of the Secretary-General’s recommendation for targeted sanctions in response to sexual violence. 

That same day, a conference in the United Kingdom, sponsored jointly by UNIFEM and DPKO, examined the role of military peacekeepers in providing protection to women in conflict situations. The conference, which OCHA also participated in, laid the groundwork for a UK-hosted Arria Formula meeting held in June on the same topic, bringing many of the issues addressed and conclusions formulated at the previous meeting to the attention of Security Council members, and setting the stage for a planned debate on 19 June 2008 on Women, Peace, and Security.

No Amnesty

The 19 June debate on the issue of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict was convened by the United States in their capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of June, and chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  Following the debate, the Security Council passed Resolution 1820, a groundbreaking resolution that rejected the notion that those who perpetrate sexual violence could in any way benefit from amnesty after conflicts die down, and called on warring factions to ensure that civilians are protected from sexual violence. 

Most importantly, the Security Council acknowledged through this resolution that sexual violence is not only about individuals – it also impacts seriously on the security and stability of countries and therefore is well within the rubric of matters to be addressed by the Security Council itself, including through sanctions or a more robust response.

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Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict: 
Operationalizing Advocacy  -  Healing the Wounds of War  -  A Framework for Prevention and Response