sexual violence

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2018

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The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes. Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others. Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions.

The physician Denis Mukwege has spent large parts of his adult life helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the Panzi Hospital was established in Bukavu in 1999, Dr. Mukwege and his staff have treated thousands of patients who have fallen victim to such assaults. Most of the abuses have been committed in the context of a long-lasting civil war that has cost the lives of more than six million Congolese.

Denis Mukwege is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts. His basic principle is that “justice is everyone’s business”. Men and women, officers and soldiers, and local, national and international authorities alike all have a shared responsibility for reporting, and combating, this type of war crime. The importance of Dr. Mukwege’s enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field cannot be overstated. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticised the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war.

Nadia Murad is herself a victim of war crimes. She refused to accept the social codes that require women to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected. She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.

Nadia Murad is a member of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, where she lived with her family in the remote village of Kocho. In August 2014 the Islamic State (IS) launched a brutal, systematic attack on the villages of the Sinjar district, aimed at exterminating the Yazidi population. In Nadia Murad’s village, several hundred people were massacred. The younger women, including underage children, were abducted and held as sex slaves. While a captive of the IS, Nadia Murad was repeatedly subjected to rape and other abuses. Her assaulters threatened to execute her if she did not convert to their hateful, inhuman version of Islam.

Nadia Murad is just one of an estimated 3 000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army. The abuses were systematic, and part of a military strategy. Thus they served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities.

After a three-month nightmare Nadia Murad managed to flee. Following her escape, she chose to speak openly about what she had suffered. In 2016, at the age of just 23, she was named the UN’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

This year marks a decade since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 (2008), which determined that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to international peace and security. This is also set out in the Rome Statute of 1998, which governs the work of the International Criminal Court. The Statute establishes that sexual violence in war and armed conflict is a grave violation of international law.  A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognised and protected in war.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is firmly embedded in the criteria spelled out in Alfred Nobel’s will. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have both put their personal security at risk by courageously combating war crimes and seeking justice for the victims. They have thereby promoted the fraternity of nations through the application of principles of international law.

Oslo, 5 October 2018

Source:https://www.nobelprize.org

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls.

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Hand stop signs by different people

Today, the 25 November 2014, WHO joins organizations and individuals worldwide in observing the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, an annual event to raise awareness and accelerate progress towards ending the global scourge of violence against women and girls. Estimates suggest that one in three women globally have experienced either physical or sexual violence from a partner, or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives, and that levels of violence against women and girls remain extremely high.

16 days of activism follow this event, ending on 10 December, Human Rights Day, to mobilize support for the cause of ending violence. The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, invites people across the globe to lend their support and to ‘Orange Your Neighbourhood’ – to wear and use the colour orange to symbolize a brighter future without violence.

Health care for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence

There are job aids throughout this handbook to help you while caring for and supporting a woman who has experienced or is experiencing violence. The guidelines on which this handbook is based do not directly address young women (under age 18) or men. Nonetheless, many of the suggestions for care may be applicable to young women or to men.

WHO is marking the beginning of the 16 days of activism with events and activities based in Geneva, Switzerland on the 24 and 25 November. This includes a panel discussion on The Role of the Health System in Addressing Violence Against Women at the Palais des Nations, which will include Member States, a Geneva-based NGO (Solidarité Femmes) and the Director of WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research, Dr. Marleen Temmerman.

WHO has also launched the field-testing version of a new clinical handbook Health care for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence. This handbook aims to help health-care providers respond safely and effectively to women and girls who have been subjected to violence – including physical, sexual, or emotional violence, whether by a partner or by any other perpetrator. These events highlight the launch of The Lancet series on violence against women (co-led by WHO) which took place Friday 21 November at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, UK.

Experts call for end to violence

Statement from the independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health

  • On this occasion, the Independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health (iERG), released a statement to underline the crucial importance of ending violence against women, stating that ‘this important dimension of women’s, adolescent’s, and children’s health has for too long been overlooked and neglected.’

The statement outlines figures such as that ‘around 30% of women have experienced either physical or sexual partner violence’ and states that ‘in some parts of the world, sexual violence is endemic – reports of non-partner sexual violence are as high as 21% in areas of sub-Saharan Africa’. The statement underlines that the response to violence against women and girls must involve a wide range of sectors and organizations, beyond the health sector; ‘Only when the health system is coordinated with the criminal justice system, education, civil society, and faith sectors will an effective response be sustained.’ iERG goes on to state that violence against women is ‘a severe abuse of a woman’s human rights and a global health challenge of epidemic proportions’.