«Sexual violence poses a threat to the right of everyone to a decent life and to the peace and security of all humanity... Therefore, in memory of all the victims on this day, let us reaffirm our commitment to ending sexual violence in conflict and ensuring peace and justice for all», — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
June 19 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. This date was established by UN General Assembly resolution № A/RES/69/293 of June 19, 2015, with the aim of attracting additional attention to the problem of sexual violence in various conflicts: both international and domestic (civil wars), regardless of what nature they are: political, religious, national.
The date was chosen to commemorate the adoption on 19 June 2008 of Security Council resolution 1820 (2008), in which the Council condemned sexual violence as a tactic of war and an obstacle to peacebuilding.
The task of international organizations, as well as UN member states, is to provide all possible assistance in the prevention of such conflicts, and if they arise, – to their speedy localization and cessation. In addition to the tasks of ending the conflict, a lot of related problems are being solved. Unfortunately, one such problem continues to be even in the 21st century the problem of sexual violence, where the victims are the least protected categories of people: women and girls.
The term «sexual violence in conflict» covers rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced marriage and any other comparable forms of sexual violence against women, men, girls or boys, having a direct or indirect (temporary, spatial or causal) relationship to the conflict.
It is no secret that one of the areas of international law for the protection of human rights is International Humanitarian Law. This is a special industry in this system, which is a set of legal norms regulating, or rather, protecting, human rights during wars, hostilities and conflicts. It also regulates the basic principles and methods of conducting combat operations through the introduction of the concept of the status of a party to the conflict and the consolidation of its legal status, the ban on the use of certain types of weapons, etc.
The history of International Humanitarian Law dates back to ancient times, when the rulers of individual states tried to compose something like rules of war. However, the international nature of these aspirations to resolve methods, methods of conducting military operations, regulating the use of certain types of weapons, and determining the status of parties to the conflict intensified in the 19th century. The clearest confirmation of this was the signing of the Geneva and Hague, as well as the St. Petersburg Conventions.
However, the signing of the conventions did not mean that adherence to the principles established by these international instruments would become the iron rule for any state that started and was involved in the conflict. The 20th century was the clearest confirmation of this. The First and Second World Wars showed the whole world examples of not only isolated cases of human rights violations, but gave rise to unprecedented facts of mass violations of human rights.
The scale of genocide, atrocities and violence against the civilian population of the conquered countries, as well as in the territories temporarily under the occupation of German troops and the troops of their allies, carried out by the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany, forced humanity to return to issues of International humanitarian law. In 1949, the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War were signed.
The Hague, Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocols of 1977, as well as UN Resolutions are aimed at protecting the rights of people caught in war or war zones.
The UN pays special attention to the problem of sexual violence during wars. Despite the signing of international documents prohibiting all violence against humans, including sexual violence, cases of violence against women and girls are still a sad fact in some countries, as well as in almost any military conflict zone. Moreover, in a number of States, the practice of sexual violence is used as a tactic of intimidation during the conduct of war. Terrorist organizations that have become active in the Middle East also widely use sexual violence, abuse and sexual slavery.
In 2021, the constant use of military rather than diplomatic and political means led to massive population displacement, resulting in increased sexual violence against civilians. Rising inequality, increased militarization, narrowing space for civil society activities and illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, among other factors, have also contributed to fuelling widespread and systematic sexual violence in relation to the conflict, even in the midst of a global pandemic.
Women peacekeepers and human rights defenders were often targeted in particular, including sexual violence and harassment as a form of reprisal, with a view to excluding them from public life. Activists and human rights defenders seeking to highlight the plight of victims of conflict-related sexual violence, protect their rights and support their access to justice and services have also been subjected to reprisals and intimidation.
On June 19, the UN annually appeals to state leaders, countries involved in hostilities, and the world community with a call to wage an irreconcilable fight against sexual violence and to direct all efforts to prevent its manifestation. The role of humanitarian organizations, doctors, lawyers, peacekeepers in suppressing the practice of sexual violence in war, as well as helping victims of violence in conflict zones, is emphasized.
The «UN Action to Combat Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative», created in 2007, involves 13 entities of the United Nations system. It promotes the development of training, reference and advocacy materials designed to technically strengthen UN structures operating in different countries so that they take coordinated and comprehensive measures to combat sexual violence in conflict.
The problem is further aggravated by the fact that the UN has to consider appeals where peacekeeping forces are accused of sexual violence, discrediting the status of a peacemaker and creating, through their behavior and criminal acts, distrust among civilians in forces, by definition called upon to defend human rights.
Infographics – poster «June 19 — International Day against Sexual Violence in Conflict»