WUNRN
Association for Women's Rights in
Development
Spotlight on Sexual
Violence in Conflict Situations
A review of issues highlighted in two recently released reports
on sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.
By Kathambi Kinoti - AWID
In conflict and post-conflict situations members of local populations,
particularly girls and women, are at increased risk of sexual violence
perpetrated not only by combatants, but also by aid workers and United
Nations peacekeepers. Two recently published reports highlight this
problem. 'No One to Turn To' [1] is the report of a study carried out by
Save the Children, UK in Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti and Southern Sudan. 'Forced
Marriage within the Lord's Resistance Army, Uganda' is published by the
Feinstein International Center. [2]
Sexual abuse and exploitation takes many forms. It is common for sex to be
traded for food or other goods and services. There is also forced sex,
verbal sexual abuse, child pornography and sexual slavery where a child is
forced to have sex with an adult by someone else who then receives payment.
The Save the Children study makes a distinction between forced sex and
coerced sex. Although any sex with a person below the age of consent is
illegal, the study distinguishes between 'children who are physically
forced to have sex and those coerced into it owing to a lack of alternative
survival tactics or through ignorance of their rights.' [3] It reveals that
coercive sex is more prevalent than forced sex.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda is notorious for its
practice of forced marriage which involves not only forced or coerced sex
but other abuses as well. The LRA systematically abducts adolescent girls
to force them into marriage with the rebel group's soldiers. According to
'Forced Marriage within the Lord's Resistance Army,'
'Forced marriages are coercive relationships
without valid consent of
the female and her family. They have the traditional characteristics of
shared domicile, bearing of children, domestic responsibilities,
exclusivity and sex. The nature of these relationships forces women and
girls to take on roles as sexual partners, mothers to the children born
from these relationships, cooks, domestics, water collectors, porters, food
producers, and gatherers. The relationships consist of a familial aspect
where children are born and raised by abducted mothers and their captor
husbands.' [4]
The authors of the report emphasize that forced marriage is not akin to
sexual slavery and say that 'Distinct from sexual slavery or enslavement,
the element of a conjugal union makes forced marriages an independent
crime.' [5]
In Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti and Southern Sudan, a wide range of local and
international actors were implicated in the sexual abuse of children. The
overwhelming majority of those accused in Cote d'Ivoire were UN
peacekeeping troops. The prevalence of abuse by the troops was higher than
that of other UN staff perhaps because
'Peacekeepers are capable of exerting particular influence over the
communities in which they serve, especially over children and young people.
This is largely due to the fact that they are armed and provide much-needed
physical security within contexts of extreme fragility. Furthermore,
peacekeeping forces contain a significant number of military personnel with
discriminatory attitudes to women.' [6]
Staff from other UN agencies, local and international humanitarian
organizations and religious organizations are also culpable for sexual
abuse.
The LRA has been systematic in its abduction of tens of thousands of girls
and keeps updated records on female abductees. When the numbers fall below
required quotas, more abductions are organized to replenish the numbers
lost through escapes or deaths.
LITTLE RECOURSE TO JUSTICE
'No One to Turn To' highlights the under-reporting of sexual abuse. One of
the reasons for this is the fear of losing material assistance for instance
in the case of the girls or women involved in sex for food transactions.
Many others also fear the stigmatization that communities attach to
survivors of sexual violence. Some feel powerless to report the
humanitarian and peacekeeping agencies that seem to be so powerful in their
regions. In many cases there is simply no avenue for recourse. For instance,
abductees of the LRA are held within rebel territory outside the reach of
the Ugandan government.
Save the Children calls for a global watchdog to be established to monitor
efforts of organizations to eliminate sexual abuse by their workers, and
for child protection services to be strengthened.
The authors of the report on forced marriage within the LRA argue that
local and international legal jurisprudence does not recognize or address
the crime of forced marriage. Although there is an emerging body of
international criminal law addressing sexual and gender based crimes, these
are inadequate to address the situation of girls and women abducted by the
LRA. They argue that forced marriage should be classified as a crime
against humanity, and say:
'There is no question that rape, sexual slavery, torture, enforced
pregnancy, and forced labor exacted upon women and girls have profound
physical and psychological repercussions. What is often overlooked when
forced wives are characterized as solely sexual slaves is a particular
quality of the injustice they have suffered—the forced imposition of the
status of marriage. The consequences of the status of wife upon a young
female abducted into the
LRA and taken by a commander or fighter are complex and... the practice
often has a profound impact on the affected females and their children, and
families and communities of return.' [6]
The two reports turn a spotlight on gaps within international law and
policy that need to be addressed in order to protect targets of sexual
abuse and forced marriage. They also make several recommendations which, if
adopted, would go a long way in enhancing access to justice for survivors of
conflict-related sex and gender-based violence.
-----------------------
Notes:
1. Csaky, Corrina, 'No One to Turn To: The under-reporting of child sexual
exploitation and abuse by aid workers and peace keepers.' Save the
Children, UK, 2008.
2. Karlson, Christopher and Mazurana, Dyan, 'Forced Marriage within the
Lord's Resistance Army, Uganda.' Feinstein International Center, May 2008.
3. Note 1, p.5.
4. Note 2, p. 14.
5. Ibid.
6. Note 1, p.8.
7. Note 2, p. 15.
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