Ann-Charlotte will attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London from 10 June to 13 June 2014 that the UK Government is hosting:
See for details: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/sexual-violence-in-conflict
In May 2013 Ann-Charlotte gave a presentation at the Speaker’s Corner at the Women Deliver Conference in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on the topic of “Trauma, Sexual Violence, and Reconciliation as a Public Health Issue”, which was a lecture on the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict and the consequences that such violence may have not only at the personal level but also at a societal level. This lecture also acknowledged the fact that both women and girls as well as men and boys are victims of sexual violence in armed conflict. In her book ”Children and Youth in Armed Conflict” she writes more about this issue.
It is necessary to fundamentally rethink the concepts of security and stability, and that it simply does not work to only have a few people defining security for others without any consultation with the people who will be the most affected by those determinations.
In the context of the widespread gender-based violence in today’s armed conflicts where rape and sexual violence against especially women have reached unprecedented levels, as the sexual violence perpetrated is often an organized, targeted and highly systematic approach, together with the continuous political, civil, economic, social and cultural discrimination of women it is necessary to question why in spite of the wide-ranging knowledge that we have about the crimes being committed in armed conflicts and the continuous discrimination of women, rape and sexual violence have been allowed to escalate to the extent that it has?
Some of the violence committed in today’s conflicts is so damaging that the consequence is that the woman can no longer have children, or that young girls’ reproductive organs have been so damaged that they will not be able to bear children as adult women, and this violence is in many cases committed with the intent to destroy the woman’s ability to have children. It is a deliberate strategy to destroy a woman’s ability to give life. This situation can no longer be denied. With regards to rape and sexual violence in armed conflict we need to ask ourselves what this violence really represents, as well as what the lack of response at the national, regional and international level represents at a much deeper level.
This also needs to be seen in the context of that the sexual violence committed mainly targets women and girls, boys and men including combatants are also being victimized. The underreporting of the crime of sexual violence reflects the lack of acknowledgement of the effects and dimension of the crime. Likewise in situations of political upheaval and chaos, sexual violence is widely common as has been reportedly extensively in for instance Egypt, which also reflects the standing and view of the woman or the girl in a given society, a link that needs to be firmly established.
There is a link between traumatic experiences such as sexual violence, and traumatic reactions and how people view reconciliation. Much more attention needs to be given to which kinds of traumatic experiences a child or an adult have been going through, and which kinds, if any, traumatic reactions these experiences have resulted in for an individual if indeed appropriate remedies are to be implemented. Many times those individuals that have not had a voice before, such as women, children, and youth, are being targeted during an armed conflict and suffer in silence. At the same time reconciliation is being brought forward as a concept in lofty terms without acknowledging who is to reconcile, and which experiences individuals have in actuality had not taking into account the psychological and emotional aspects involved.
LINKS & REFERENCESWomen Deliver: http://www.WomenDeliver.orgMy presentation at Women Deliver conference, Speaker’s Corner, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 30, 2013, From forthcoming book “Children and Youth in Armed Conflict” (2013)Beyond Beijing Committee Monitors, International Solidarity of Women’s Empowerment, Equality and Dignity, Nepal: http://www.beyondbeijing.orgHimalayan Human Rights Monitors, Kathmandu, Nepal: http://www.himrights.org Political Violence Against Women
the National Gender and Equality Commission of Kenya (NGEC): www.ngeckenya.orgGender and the Environment
Landesa, Rural Development Institute: http://www.landesa.org