Framework for accountability against sexual violence in conflicts must include all actors: India

United Nations, April 24

A robust framework for accountability against sexual violence in armed conflicts must include all actors, irrespective of their affiliations and motivations, India has said as it stressed the need to understand the nexus between terrorism, trafficking and sexual violence to address the scourge.

First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Paulomi Tripathi said at the UN Security Council high-level open debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict that improving response to sexual violence in armed conflicts by the Security Council could not be pursued in isolation and the normative work done outside the Council regarding equal rights and empowerment of women must continue to inform the discussions.

The UN Security Council called upon warring parties around the globe to implement concrete commitments to fight the heinous, barbaric and all-too-often silent phenomenon of sexual violence during conflict.

Adopting a resolution by a vote of 13 in favour to none against, with veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia abstaining, the Council reiterated its demand for the complete cessation of all acts of sexual violence by all parties to armed conflict.

“Despite commendable advances both in policy and practice in combating sexual violence, the gap between what is recommended and the reality in the field remains. We need to better understand the dynamic complexities, that manifests as sexual violence in armed conflict, in order to prevent the atrocities, to end the culture of impunity and to rehabilitate and reintegrate the survivors,” she said.

Tripathi stressed that a robust framework for accountability against sexual violence in armed conflicts must seek to include all actors, irrespective of their affiliations and motivations. Further, the conceptualisation of sexual violence primarily as a ‘tactic of war’ has become pervasive.

She, however, added that restricting one’s understanding to the notion of instrumentality of sexual violence in armed conflicts runs the risk of rendering invisible the “other” victims of such atrocities.

“These invisible victims could include boys and men, or those violated by civilians and humanitarian actors with other motivations. Framework of accountability and reparation must address their sufferings,” she said. PTI