June 17-19, 2007
Amsterdam, the Netherlands | |
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The ongoing brutality in Darfur reminds us that sexual violence remains a horrifying aspect of war. Understanding the determinants of its variation may help to define policies better able to curtail this savage form of violence that targets the most vulnerable civilians, often with the intention to ruin them for life.[1] The Netherlands Defense Academy and the Feminism & Legal Theory Project have joined together in order to sponsor a symposium regarding the sexual exploitation and abuse of women in violent conflict. Since the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, many conferences and political debates have been staged. Yet in the search for solutions, a systematic investigation of causes and consequences of violence has largely remained absent. This conference serves to address the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse of women in violent conflict in a systematic and comprehensive manner. Experts from the military, politics and the sciences will be brought together to realize the comprehensiveness that the organization is seeking. Military and politicians will be able to gain insight in contexts and consequences of sexual exploitation and abuse in order to create awareness and better address these offences. Academics can verify information on contexts and consequences of sexual exploitation and abuse, learn about problems that have not been taken up by academics thus far, and discuss the feasibility of various approaches to the offences. Speakers include Major-General Patrick Cammaert (Force Commander UN Mission to the Congo), Yakin Ertürk (UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences), Martha Fineman (Emory Law School), Fionualla Ni Aolain (University of Ulster), Muna Ndulo (Cornell Law School) and Elisabeth Wood (Yale University).
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