Sexual Violence on the Decline? Recent debates and evidence suggest ‘unlikely’

PRIO Policy Brief

Nordås, Ragnhild (2012) Sexual Violence on the Decline? Recent debates and evidence suggest ‘unlikely’, CSCW Policy Brief, 3. Oslo: CSCW.

Download publication

.pdf

The 2012 Human Security Report claims there is reason to believe we may be witnessing a decline in wartime sexual violence – a claim that has created newspaper headlines and intense debate within the blogosphere.

Key researchers specializing in the topic of conflict-related sexual violence have taken issue with the report, as well as the premises on which its claims are based. This brief summarizes key elements of the debate.

The brief warns that the focus on whether there has been a decline may sidetrack vital debate on how to mitigate conflict-related sexual violence. The brief also highlights what a more productive debate and line of research might require in order to contribute to preventing sexual violence in the future, suggesting some priorities.

15/02/2013
Policy Briefs on Sexual Violence

Sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings is increasingly recognized as a threat to international peace and security. PRIO and the Centre for the Study of Civil War have recently published a number of policy briefs on the topic of conflict-related sexual violence.

11/06/2014
PRIO Research Informs Debate about Sexual Violence in Conflict

The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict is taking place in London on 10-13 June, co-chaired by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The summit is an effort to join forces internationally to combat the culture of impunity, take practical steps, support survivors, and change attitudes towards the issue. At PRIO, researchers have been working on issues of sexual violence in conflict for some time already, teaming up with international experts to perform groundbreaking research and convene large conferences.

18/02/2013
Successful Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post Conflict Settings

On 14-16 February 2013, partners of the Missing Peace Initiative together with Stockholm International Peace Research Institute North America convened a group of expert scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and military and civil society actors for the first Missing Peace Symposium on preventing conflict-related sexual violence.

At the symposium, which took place at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) in Washington DC, participants examined the issue of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings, identified gaps in knowledge and reporting, and explored how to increase the effectiveness of current responses to such violence.

Watch the video from the Missing Peace Symposium 2013 here.

Special Report

To mark the first Missing Peace Symposium, a special report entitled 'Wartime Sexual Violence: Misconceptions, Implications, and Ways Forward' was developed by Dara Kay Cohen, Amelia Hoover Green, and Elisabeth Jean Wood, and launched at the symposium.

Read the special report here.

Policy Briefs

Also for the occassion of the first Missing Peace Symposium, the following PRIO Policy Briefs on sexual violence were published:

Cohen, Dara Kay & Ragnhild Nordås (2012) Sexual Violence by Militias in African Conflicts: Not a question of 'delegation' by states, PRIO Policy Brief, 1. Oslo: CSCW.
Cohen, Dara Kay & Ragnhild Nordås (2012) Sexual Violence in African Conflicts, 1989–2009: What the data show, PRIO Policy Brief, 2. Oslo: CSCW.
Nordås, Ragnhild (2012) Sexual Violence on the Decline? Recent debates and evidence suggest 'unlikely', PRIO Policy Brief, 3. Oslo: CSCW.
Nordås, Ragnhild (2013) Preventing Conflict-related Sexual Violence, PRIO Policy Brief, 2. Oslo: PRIO.
Skjelsbæk, Inger (2013) Preventing Perpetrators: How to go from protection to prevention of sexual violence in war? PRIO Policy Brief, 3. Oslo: PRIO.

About the Missing Peace Initiative

The Missing Peace Initiative was established in 2013 as a collaborative project of the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and Women In International Security (WIIS).

The Initiative brings together scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and military and civil society actors to examine the issue of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings, identify gaps in knowledge and reporting, and explore how to increase the effectiveness of current responses to such violence.

Authors

Ragnhild Nordås

Senior Researcher

An error has occurred. This application may no longer respond until reloaded. Reload 🗙