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UNHCR chief reiterates commitment to prevention of sexual violence

News Stories, 25 November 2009

A group of refugee women wait to see the doctor in a Bangladeshi camp. Forcibly displaced women are vulnerable to abuse.

GENEVA, November 25 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres stressed on Wednesday that his agency was fully committed to the prevention of sexual violence, which he said needed a personal as well as a collective response.

"Gender-based violence is one of the most virulent, culturally endemic, and persistent trends in the world," Guterres noted in a special message to staff to mark the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women, an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991.

"Sexual violence is a brutal form of physical and psychological warfare rooted in the gender inequality extant not only in zones of conflict, but in our everyday personal lives," said the High Commissioner, who described sexual violence as a major global security concern.

"The persistence of such forms of violence undermine peace and security and shatter community and family ties. It demands a personal as well as a collective response," he stressed, while adding: "The prevention of sexual violence must remain one of our highest priorities."

Gender-based violence is one of the most virulent, culturally endemic, and persistent trends in the world.

António Guterres

Guterres said preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence was increasingly integrated into UNHCR's efforts on physical protection, health, access to psycho-social support and justice, livelihoods, community empowerment and durable solutions.

He pledged that the refugee agency "will, along with other UN agencies, increasingly assist states in their efforts to prevent sexual violence, protect individuals and provide remedy to victims."

UNHCR staff at Geneva headquarters and in the field will be holding a wide range of activities over the 16 days under this year's theme of "Commit. Act. Demand. We can end violence against women." Headquarters is running exhibitions on victims of sex trafficking and promoting UNHCR initiatives to foster gender equality in refugee settings.

There will also be a personal address by Guterres as well as presentations by representatives of UN Action – a network of 12 UN agencies working to end sexual violence in conflict – and the White Ribbon Campaign, an organization focused on mobilizing men to end violence against women.

Evidence of the gravity of violence and discrimination against women worldwide is widespread. A selection of recent news headlines tell of one abuse after another: In Australia, 16 football players are arrested for raping an 18-year-old girl; In Somalia, a divorced woman is stoned to death on a charge of adultery; in the Netherlands, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic faces prosecution for crimes against humanity that include systematic rape.

The last decade, meanwhile, has seen renewed focus on the tactical use of sexual violence in conflict. In 2001, mass rape and sexual enslavement in wartime were, for the first time, regarded as a crime against humanity by the War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

More recently, a report from 18 Colombian women's organizations to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights showed an alarming increase in sexual violence by state security forces over the previous five years. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thought to have the highest rate of rape in the world, armed groups send messages to villages stating: "We will be raping your women and girls."

With sexual violence clearly integrated into military objectives, UN Security Resolutions 1820 and 1888 on "Women, Peace and Security," and the initiatives they have spawned, mark a milestone in the fight against sexual violence.

Guterres said the resolutions, passed in 2008 and 2009 respectively, represented the international community's clearest commitment to combating sexual violence in conflict. Yet gender-based violence is not just a problem for a few troubled states.

Also falling within the 16 days are International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29), World AIDS Day (December 1), International Disability Day (December 3) and International Human Rights Day (December 10).

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Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons - Guidelines for Prevention and Response

Guidelines offering practical advice on how to design strategies and carry out activities aimed at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence.

Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings

Published by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), September 2005

How UNHCR Helps Women

By ensuring participation in decision-making and strengthening their self-reliance.

The High Commissioner

António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.

Women

Women and girls can be especially vulnerable to abuse in mass displacement situations.

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Twitter - UNHCR Refugee Women & Girls

Women in Exile

In any displaced population, approximately 50 percent of the uprooted people are women and girls. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and sometimes their family structure, females are particularly vulnerable. They face the rigours of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent sexual abuse, even after reaching an apparent place of safety. Women must cope with these threats while being nurse, teacher, breadwinner and physical protector of their families. In the last few years, UNHCR has developed a series of special programmes to ensure women have equal access to protection, basic goods and services as they attempt to rebuild their lives.

On International Women's Day UNHCR highlights, through images from around the world, the difficulties faced by displaced women, along with their strength and resilience.

Women in Exile

Refugee Women

Women and girls make up about 50 percent of the world's refugee population, and they are clearly the most vulnerable. At the same time, it is the women who carry out the crucial tasks in refugee camps – caring for their children, participating in self-development projects, and keeping their uprooted families together.

To honour them and to draw attention to their plight, the High Commissioner for Refugees decided to dedicate World Refugee Day on June 20, 2002, to women refugees.

The photographs in this gallery show some of the many roles uprooted women play around the world. They vividly portray a wide range of emotions, from the determination of Macedonian mothers taking their children home from Kosovo and the hope of Sierra Leonean girls in a Guinean camp, to the tears of joy from two reunited sisters. Most importantly, they bring to life the tremendous human dignity and courage of women refugees even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Refugee Women

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More than 70 per cent of all refugees are women and children. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and often their family structure, females are particularly vulnerable. They face the rigours of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent sexual abuse. International Women's Day provides us with an opportunity to honour the resilience and strength of these women.