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7704th Security Council Meeting: Women, Peace and Security - Part 1
Special Representative Decries ‘Slave Trade Revival’ as Delegations Deplore Impunity of Extremist Groups, Stigma Attached to Victims.
Sexual violence was increasingly evolving from a tactic of war to one of terrorism, speakers said today, as the Security Council held an open debate on the use of sexual violence in conflict situations.
In a wide-ranging discussion on “responding to human trafficking in situations of conflict-related sexual violence”, under the women and peace and security agenda, participants highlighted the growing use by terrorist and extremist organizations of sexual violence to control and intimidate communities, recruit and maintain fighters and force people from their homes.
Sexual violence was not merely incidental, but integral to the ideology and strategic objectives of extremist groups, said Zainab Hawa Bangura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, in her briefing. The bodies of women and girls were generating millions of dollars in revenue for extremist groups, she noted. That was not just objectification, but commodification, she emphasized, declaring: “It is the revival of the slave trade in our own life and times.”
She said the Secretary-General’s most recent report on conflict-related sexual violence (document S/2016/361) outlined in harrowing detail how the international community was being confronted by new and previously unforeseen threats. Of the 48 parties listed in the annex to the report, 37 were non-State armed actors, yet the instruments available to the United Nations system were primarily geared towards Member States, which presented political and operational challenges. If extremist groups were beyond the reach of judicial deterrence, greater focus must be placed on divesting them of resources and degrading their capacity to communicate, travel, trade, and do harm, she stressed.
Also briefing, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, cited recent reports indicating that the criminal practice was a regular consequence of crisis and conflict, arising from broken public institutions, violations of human rights and growing vulnerability. Abductions of women and girls who were subsequently forced to marry and/or serve as sex slaves by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh), Boko Haram and their affiliates and were victims of a strategy to generate revenue as well as to recruit, reward and retain fighters, she said.
To counter exploitative trafficking, it must be actively tracked, she said, adding that labour exploitation deserved the same level of attention as sexual exploitation. Millions of people forced to flee armed conflict in their own countries faced an increasingly expensive and hazardous journey, she noted, pointing out that many were vulnerable to physical violence, sexual assault, extortion and trafficking after having sold all their possessions to pay for their travel.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described sexual violence as a “deliberate strategy used to shred the fabric of society”, citing the abduction of more than 200 girls from Chibok, Nigeria, more than two years ago as one of the most horrific examples of the use of sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism. He recalled that the deployment of women protection advisers to peacekeeping and political missions had strengthened the monitoring, analysis and reporting of conflict-related sexual violence as well as engagement with parties to conflict, which were vital steps towards accountability. “Today, we and our partners are supporting thousands of survivors we were not reaching a decade ago with practical measures, ranging from reporting hotlines to community-based care,” he said, emphasizing: “These policies not only help survivors; they enable societies to begin their own recovery.”
Nevertheless, survivors of violence faced immense obstacles in gaining access to life-saving services, said Lisa Davis of the Non-Governmental Organizations Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. There was a need to support women and girls as leaders, reduce vulnerability to trafficking, provide access to sexual and reproductive health care in crisis settings and end impunity, she emphasized.
Throughout the day-long debate, speakers stressed the need to challenge the harmful stigma of survivors and those born of rape, who far too often were ostracized from their families and rejected by their communities.
Malaysia’s representative said that the rescue, recovery and reintegration of women and men survivors must be a top priority, noting that survivors often suffered twice over, first from the heinous acts themselves, and then from the subsequent stigma associated with being a victim.
The representative of the United States noted the particular challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex peoples, as well as men and boys, who not only faced a heightened risk of harassment and abuse, but also had to counter strong social stigma that could result in the under-reporting of abuses.
Lithuania’s representative said that in order to tackle conflict-related sexual violence, the international community must grow out of the “this is a man’s world” perspective, adding that even the best tools would not work if women remained bystanders during peace negotiations, excluded from peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
Senegal’s representative said it was critically important to empower women in the context of peace agreements, and to deploy women protection advisers in international peace operations, pointing to his country’s strong engagement with women’s groups. Accountability for crimes was another important element of a comprehensive approach to sexual abuse, he added.
Other speakers voiced concern about recent allegations of sexual violence by those operating within peacekeeping missions, with the United Kingdom’s representative stressing that no one wearing a United Nations blue helmet should commit, or be associated with, sexual violence, exploitation or abuse. Anyone committing such crimes must face justice, he said, emphasizing: “Accountability cannot be selective.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Federation’s representative warned the Security Council about the risk of duplicating the work of other United Nations entities in taking up the issue of sexual violence. The Council must focus only on situations of armed conflict, he said, emphasizing the need to avoid “hazy ideas” that encouraged broad interpretation of international concepts, and terminology that overstepped the international consensus.
Also speaking today were representatives of Spain, Egypt, China, Japan, Uruguay, Ukraine, Venezuela, Angola, New Zealand, France, Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Georgia, Australia, Colombia, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Portugal, India, Thailand, Israel, Belgium, South Africa, Canada, Netherlands, Brazil, Morocco, Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria and the Deputy Head of the European Union delegation.
Taking the floor for a second time were representatives of Turkey and Syria.
The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 4:25 p.m.
