WUNRN
http://acuns.org/femicide-volume-iii-targeting-of-women-in-conflict/
Femicide Volume III – Targeting of Women in Conflict
Direct Link to Full 140-Page 2015 Report:
http://acuns.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Femicide-III_Core-Stanzell.pdf
ACUNS (Academic Council on the United Nations System) takes
great pride in sharing with you the third volume of our Femicide Publication which we have been
releasing annually since the first Femicide symposium in November 2012. Each
year, on the occasion of the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against
Women, the Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations
System (ACUNS) has organized a symposium on a different theme related to the
most extreme forms of violence.
On 25 November 2014, ACUNS, together with the Governments of Austria,
Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Norway, Philippines and Thailand,
sponsored a symposium on ‘Targeting of Women in War’, which brought together
panels of experts to address the various challenges that need to be tackled
with great urgency to curb the scourge of sexual violence in conflict. A series
of recommendations were made, pointing out that existing legal instruments have
proven to be ineffective in addressing this global problem. Perpetrators should
be prosecuted and military units must be held to high standards of conduct
vis-à-vis civilians. Strict compliance with military and criminal codes must be
pursued by the responsible government institutions, while complementary efforts
must be undertaken by civil society to ensure proper respect for women and
girls in conflict zones.
Once again, we are standing as silent witnesses to the mass
killings of women in several places around the world. It is imperative to take
concrete steps to stop these unspeakable crimes and ensure that these monstrous
rapists and killers are not given impunity. Speakers at the ACUNS conference
identified what was done – or not done – after the mass killings in Bosnia, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Guatemala, Rwanda and Sri Lanka. In
his annual Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, the UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon, highlights the ongoing challenges faced by individual States in
conflict and post-conflict situations to protect women and girls.
Reports published in 2014 and early 2015 by Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch contain detailed accounts of sexual
slavery in Islamic State captivity, Boko Haram’s acts of sexual violence in
north-eastern Nigeria and mass rapes in Darfur. The sheer brutality of these
acts and the feelings of desperation that are reflected in victims’ testimonies
fill us with disgust and shame. These barbarities which one would have thought
belonged to past centuries have reared their heads again in the new millennium.
The latest figures on mass rapes and incidents of sexual slavery across the
world are discouraging. The international community should not stand idly by
while these atrocious crimes are being committed. It is essential for the UN
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to give a strong signal
that crimes of sexual violence are not to be tolerated, and that the
perpetrators will be brought to justice.
This publication explores the topic of ‘Targeting women in
Conflict’ in depth, through a series of strong statements delivered by Secretary-General,
the Director of UN Women, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, a prosecutor from the International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and
reports from other UN bodies, as well as academic articles addressing the
cross- cutting topics of violence against women, femicide and sexual violence.
The ACUNS-Vienna Femicide Team has committed itself over the
past three years to disseminating knowledge on the cross-cutting issue of
femicide and engaging with UN practitioners, academics and NGO representatives
in order to raise this matter of great importance higher on the international
agenda. We continue to encourage UN bodies and national governments to improve
efforts in tackling femicide and the most serious forms of sexual violence against
women.
Andrada Filip, Michael Platzer and the ACUNS Vienna Femicide
Team