Andrea Dimoski

Final Essay

Impact of sexual violence in conflict areas on

women's civic participation

POL411M

The Theory and Practice of International Relations

Professor Tongfi Kim

RQ: To what extent does sexual violence in conflict areas affect women's civic participation?

Conflict areas are an active problem in the international community for a number of reasons. An
even bigger problem is that their number continues to grow from year to year. According to the
2018 Vision of Humanity chart, “the total number of conflicts has continued to rise, from 104 in
2008 to 160 in 2018,” what is also highlighted in this chart is that “state-based conflicts rose from
38 to 52, while non-state violent conflicts increased over 100 per cent, rising from 36 in 2008 to 76
in 2018. “1 What I will focus on in this essay is the sexual violence that results from these conflicts
as well as its impact on women’s civic participation. For conflict-related sexual violence, I will use
the definition provided by the UN: "conflict-related sexual violence refers to rape, sexual slavery,
forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and
any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or
boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.” 2 Numerous studies have shown that there is a
strong link between women's security and the security of the state and its capacity to establish and
maintain peace. Women have also been shown to play a significant role in the post-conflict areas in
state-building and peace-building. In 2006, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan
opined, “The world is . . . starting to grasp that there is no policy more effective [in promoting
development, health, and education] than the empowerment of women and girls. And I would
venture that no policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in achieving reconciliation after a
conflict has ended.” 3 Sexual violence in conflict areas and efforts to stop it have been extensively
described in the academic literature. One of the most recent and comprehensive reports dealing with
this topic was written by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2020. In this report, he
highlights the key events that have contributed to the recognition of sexual violence as a war crime
that is preventable and very essentially punishable, as well as the adoption of numerous measures to
prevent sexual violence and help its victims. Also, when it comes to women's empowerment and
their involvement in civic activities in 2017, a significant policy paper was published by the
OECD. This paper demonstrates the need for “ a shift in perspective on gender equality in fragile
situations,” and also emphasizes that “providing more transformative support for gender equality
and sustainable peace requires an understanding of gender, conflict and fragility that is deeper,
wider, and more politically informed, with a strong focus on women as agents of change – deeper in
focusing on the root causes of gender inequality and fragility, including social norms; wider in
grasping the full range of connections between gender, conflict and fragility, including how gender
inequality shapes conflict and fragility; and more politically informed in understanding the power
relations driving gender inequality, conflict and fragility and the role of women as actors rather than
only passive victims or beneficiaries.”4 This paper also made a number of recommendations in
terms of donor behavior in these areas and the direction of their activities to contribute to the
empowerment of women. However, although this paper, like many others, recognizes the
importance of women and their involvement in civic activities, the situation that actually takes place
in these areas is significantly different, as we can see from the latest UN report. I want to emphasize
that the mere recognition of the role of women in this process is a great progress. It should be taken
1 Vision of Humanity, (2018), “Chart of the week: Number of conflicts increasing”,
https://www.visionofhumanity.org/chart-of-the-week-number-of-conflicts-increasing/
2 United Nations, (2020), “International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict”,
https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-sexual-violence-in-conflict-day
3 Koa Annan, “No Policy for Progress More Effective Than Empowerment of Women, Secretary- General
Says in Remarks to Woman’s Day Observance,” United Nations press conference, March 8, 2006,
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10370.doc.htm
4 OECD, (2020), “Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations:
A Review of Donor Support”, https://www.oecd.org/dac/conflict-fragility-
resilience/docs/Gender_equality_in_fragile_situations_2017.pdf
into account that policymakers not so long ago considered it necessary to focus on "major issues
such as democracy and democratization, poverty and wealth, ideology and national identity" in
resolving the conflict, while considering the role of women irrelevant. 5 Although there are
numerous initiatives, even clearly formulated recommendations in terms of the direction of actions
in conflict areas when it comes to women's empowerment and their civic role, we can see from the
UN report that actions in these areas are mostly focused on stopping and mitigating the
consequences of sexual violence, and to some extent on punishing the perpetrators of these acts. In
the following part of the text, I will give some examples of actions that are currently being carried
out in conflict areas. In Myanmar, these actions are aimed at “enhancing accountability for conflict
related sexual violence, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context
of preventing human trafficking,” in South Sudan, the network financed “the scaling up of a one-
stop centre for survivors and a project to build the capacity of the justice and security sector,” in
Afghanistan they are “promulgating a Law on Protection of Child Rights, and a policy for the
protection of women in war and emergency situations, as well as reviewing the Law on Elimination
of Violence against Women and approving draft regulations on emergency funds for victims,” and
in Colombia “the Special Jurisdiction for Peace decreed that amnesty could not be granted in cases
of conflict-related sexual violence, and that investigations related to child recruitment should
consider linkages with conflict related sexual violence.”6 Of course, these are just some of the many
initiatives that the UN is implementing in the countries exposed to the conflict, but due to the
limited format of the paper, I opted for these countries as examples. These initiatives are
undoubtedly important and play a major role in helping victims of sexual violence and making their
lives easier. However, I believe that actions of this type affect the consequences instead of the
cause. Namely, as shown at the beginning of this paper, the number of conflict areas in the world
has recorded a sharp increase. In addition to that, a report from the Center for International
Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) at the University of Maryland concludes that
“most recent armed conflicts are not new conflicts, but flare-ups of older wars that have gone
dormant for some time.” 7 As long as we have conflict areas in the world, there will be sexual
violence in these areas in a certain way. Accordingly, the end goal of conflict-related sexual
violence agenda is not a “war without rape”, but rather a world without war. 8 Evidence of peace-
building through women's participation in civic activity and state structure has been provided in
many studies. Therefore, the focus of the initiatives of the United Nations, and all other
organizations involved in the life of these states, should be exactly on that. Although so far some
efforts have been made to empower women and promote women's activism in the form of proposed
measures to be implemented, for now these are individual and isolated cases that do not have
enough strength to achieve drastic change and lead to peace in these areas, and thereby lead to the
very elimination of this pattern of violence. Also, another dangerous trend that is currently
happening in these areas is that in the absence of effective security guarantees there has been “many
women retreating from prominent leadership roles in the peace and transitional justice process
following threats and attacks against themselves and their families.”9 Furthermore, the fact that

5 Hudson, V., Spanvil, B., McDermott, R., & Emmett, C., (2008), “The Heart of the Matter:
The Security of Women and the Security of States,” International Security, 33(3), 7–45.
6 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “Conflict-Related Sexual Violence,” Office of the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General, https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/report/conflict-related-sexual-violence-report-of-the-united-nations-secretary-
general/2019-SG-Report.pdf.
7 Hoffman, E., Bercovitch, J., (2011), “Examining Structural Components of Peace Agreements and Their
Durability,” Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 28(4), 399-426.
8 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “Conflict-Related Sexual Violence,” Office of the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General, https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/report/conflict-related-sexual-violence-report-of-the-united-nations-secretary-
general/2019-SG-Report.pdf.
9 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “Conflict-Related Sexual Violence,” Office of the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General, https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-
perpetrators of sexual crimes are not punished in more cases than they are, leads to the victims of
these attacks still fearing that with any engagement that will make them stand out in some sense,
they will provoke their attackers again. This leads to the victims, even though they escaped from the
hands of criminals, still continuing to live their lives in fear of re-attack. This disrupts the course of
their lives even after the trauma they have suffered and distances them from possible activities
towards activism and involvement in the civic activities of their country in order to prevent such
crimes from happening again.
Further research should focus on developing and implementing successful mechanisms that would
help empower women in conflict areas and contribute to the inclusion of women in the civic
structures of these countries, in order to address the root causes of this problem, not just address the
many consequences. Further research should also address the reason why the current initiatives
have failed to be implemented and to apply the conclusions reached. Research has shown that the
participation of women in the state structure of a country leads to a reduction of conflict and the
establishment of peace. This should be the guiding principle of the United Nations and other
organizations trying to help countries in conflict and their citizens. Also, what should be kept in
mind is that each state is unique and therefore requires a special approach. Furthermore, because of
the many differences that exist between these countries, and they relate to political systems, culture,
religion, as well as many others, there cannot be one universal approach that will be applicable in
all cases. Finally, I would like to emphasize that women should not be presented as victims but as
bearers of peace and progress in a society. Although it has been proven that women's participation
in peace processes improves their sustainability, the challenge remains to ensure their participation
in this process and that problems in which women are disproportionately and structurally affected
are properly addressed. As we move towards a new age, it is necessary to use the transforming
power of women's leadership and listen to the experiences of survivors in order to move from
resolutions to concrete results.

content/uploads/2020/07/report/conflict-related-sexual-violence-report-of-the-united-nations-secretary-
general/2019-SG-Report.pdf.