All roads lead to the Summit – but where to next on ending sexual violence?

As the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict takes place in London Saferworld's Hannah Wright and Zarina Khan examine why a holistic approach to conflict is needed to make progress against sexual violence and why it is crucial that governments stand by their existing commitments.

This week, London’s ExCel centre will play host to a huge international gathering of governments, civil society, media, medical, legal, military and other professionals as part of a renewed global effort to prevent sexual violence in conflict.

The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict (ESVC) follows two years of the UK Government’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) that has sought to “end the use of rape as a weapon of war”, “increase the number of prosecutions worldwide” and “shatter the culture of impunity” that perpetuates such crimes.

The Foreign Secretary William Hague has raised the profile of sexual violence through international platforms and put the spotlight on the trauma and suffering of many who may have otherwise remained invisible. We should, however, remember that countless organisations, groups and activists have long been working to prevent sexual violence in all its forms around the world, sometimes in the face of limited resources, insecurity and hostility. The Summit is a useful opportunity to use the unprecedented international attention to secure long-term support for those undertaking this challenging work.

If the spotlight is to fall on the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, it should fall on sexual violence in all its forms and across all contexts, and the political will to end it should follow. Even in countries affected by conflict, evidence from a range of contexts suggests the majority of acts of sexual violence are committed by non-combatants.[1] Women and girls in particular are more likely to experience sexual abuse at the hands of an intimate partner or family member than someone they don’t know. As William Hague rightly highlighted, survivors of sexual violence “are often rejected by their families, suffer illness, lack proper housing, are not employed, do not have access to education, and struggle to survive”, but this plight is not unique to armed conflict – though it may certainly be exacerbated by it – and indeed survivors in countries usually considered to be peaceful can and do face such difficulties.

Furthermore, where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, it cannot be dealt with in isolation: efforts to prevent it must be linked to efforts to prevent violent conflict from breaking out in the first place. Taking appropriate measures to understand and address the tensions and underlying issues that may result in violent conflict is a crucial aspect of a joined-up strategy for preventing war-time abuses.

Ultimately, if we are to prevent sexual and gender-based violence we must address the root causes. Sexual and gender-based violence is not caused by a lack of criminal convictions or a culture of impunity, though these factors certainly play a role in perpetuating such horrific crimes given that perpetrators so often go unpunished. It is imbalances of power and harmful social norms which cause perpetrators to exert abusive control over others. Though the evidence available is incomplete, it does suggest that the majority of acts of sexual and gender-based violence are perpetrated by men against women and girls.[2] This highlights that patriarchal attitudes and norms which legitimise men’s power over women, are at the root of sexual and gender-based violence. Even where men commit sexual violence against other men, harmful gender norms are often still at play: socially constructed notions of masculinity that valorise domination and control can mean that sexual violence serves to disempower and emasculate the victim while affirming the power and status of the perpetrator.

When employed alongside primary prevention activities, pursuing criminal prosecutions for SGBV may help reduce impunity – but the pursuit of justice must take a survivor-centred approach. The ESVC Summit is an opportunity to put the needs of the survivor at the heart of efforts to pursue justice, and Saferworld hopes this will be reflected during the course of the week. To survivors themselves, justice will not always mean a criminal conviction, but could be belief, understanding, help, and long-term support. A balanced and comprehensive approach towards providing survivor services is needed – including, but not limited to, support to pursue criminal convictions.

So what does this mean for the international gathering in London? After the hub of professional expertise, informed discussions and good intentions is dispersed, what should follow in order that we truly make strides towards eradicating sexual and gender-based violence?

Progress can only be made if we turn the expertise, discussions and intentions into tangible actions. Existing international policies to prevent sexual and gender-based violence are numerous and comprehensive, but policies alone change little on the ground. It will be through building social movements to transform gender roles, promoting education that teaches gender equality, and funding services that support survivors throughout their healing process that real change will be achieved. Rather than making new declarations of intent, the most important thing governments can do to end sexual violence in conflict is to make good on their existing commitments to promote gender equality and tackle the root causes of violence. Saferworld’s briefing for the summit explores some of the changes that can be made to security and justice systems as part of this broader approach to prevention.

In isolation these actions can feel disproportionate to the scale of the challenge; together, they can transform a society in which sexual violence is commonplace into an environment that is safe, secure and in which all people are equally valued and empowered.

Hannah Wright is Saferworld's Gender, peace and security adviser and Zarina Khan is UK Advocacy Officer for Saferworld.

Read Saferworld's briefing for the End Sexual Violence in Conflict summit

Read more about Saferworld's work on gender, peace and security.

[1] See, for example, Kay Cohen D, Hoover Green A, Jean Wood E (2013), Wartime Sexual Violence: Misconceptions, Implications, and Ways Forward,Washington: United States Institute of Peace, http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/wartime%20sexual%20violence.pdf; Nelson B , Collins L, VanRooyen M , Joyce N , Mukwege D and Bartels S (2011), ‘Impact of sexual violence on children in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’ in Medicine, Conflict and Survival (27:4).

[2]Fulu E., Warner X., Miedema S., Jewkes R., Roselli T., Lang J. (2013) Why Do Some Men Use Violence AgainstWomen and How Can We Prevent It? Quantitative Findings from the United Nations Multi-country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok: UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV) http://unwomen-asiapacific.org/docs/WhyDoSomeMenUseViolenceAgainstWomen_P4P_Report.pdf

“Rather than making new declarations of intent, the most important thing governments can do to end sexual violence in conflict is to make good on their existing commitments to promote gender equality and tackle the root causes of violence. ”

Hannah Wright