Despite clear legal prohibitions, sexual violence remains widespread and prevalent during armed conflicts and other situations of violence, with grave humanitarian consequences. Sexual violence is often utilized as a tactical or strategic means of overwhelming and weakening the adversary, whether directly or indirectly, by targeting the civilian population.
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Apr 16
Complying with IHL in large-scale conflicts: movement, mass displacement and family links
By the end of 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 123.2 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order. If a lar ... Show More
18m 7s
Apr 2
Why Nordic governments must uphold the global ban on anti-personnel mines
As security concerns intensify across Europe following the escalation of the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, several states – including Finland, Poland, and the Baltic countries – have moved to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention ... Show More
13m 34s
Mar 26
Restoring education after armed conflict: an IHL-guided framework
When armed conflict ends, education does not always return with it. In many post-conflict settings, schools remain closed long after ceasefires, while children stay at home, enter work, remain displaced or navigate unsafe environments. Education systems remain constrained by dest ... Show More
16m 4s
Feb 2024
Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Armed Conflict
<p>Among the many horrific stories emerging out of the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza are instances of sexual and gender-based violence. It’s an issue that is pervasive in many armed conflicts, and yet, even now, it’s often treated as an afterthought. There are a lot of rea ... Show More
47m 33s
Dec 2022
What should justice look like for survivors of sexual violence?
This week a major conference organised by the UK government called The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative took place in London. Delegates, policy makers, politicians and survivors from around the world listened to discussions on justice, reparations, accountability ... Show More
21m 10s
Nov 2019
Mila Dragojević, "Amoral Communities: Collective Crimes in Time of War" (Cornell UP, 2019)
How does violence against civilians become permissible in wartime? Why do some communities experience violence while others do not? In her new book, Mila Dragojević develops the concept of amoral communities to find an answer to these questions. In Amoral Communities: Collective ... Show More
44m 30s
Mar 2024
Why Is Violent Conflict Reaching Record Levels?
<p>More than any time in the last 75 years, we’re living in a world at war. Conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine dominate headlines. But that’s just part of it. Last year, Azerbaijan seized Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee. There’s a full-scale civil war i ... Show More
40m 9s
Dec 2023
From Gaza to Ukraine, accountability vital to end horrific cycle of rights violations: Türk
In an exclusive interview with UN News, Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, underlined that accountability is key and a fundamental “missing link” in most conflicts around the world which simply perpetuates cycles of violence.“It is absolutely critical that accountab ... Show More
15m 35s