UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 13251) on women, peace and security, passed on 31 October 2000, was the first UNSCR to specifically acknowledge the impacts of conflict, particularly sexual violence, on women and girls. What has it achieved –…
Narrating the fate of the women of Troy, the Greek playwright Euripides provided the script for modern warfare: the murdered children of Hekuba, the sexual slavery of Briseis, Andromache as war prey, Polyxena burned as a sacrifice and Kassandra raped…
The physical wounds suffered in most forms of combat are usually visible, prioritised for medical treatment and eventually healed. In contrast, while sexual violence may result in significant physical damage and severe internal wounding, it is far less likely to…
The primary obligation to protect women and girls from sexual violence rests with national governments. Many, however, fail to meet this obligation even during peace-time. Women’s rights tend to be poorly protected, cases of rape go largely unreported and national…
Throughout history, violence against women has been accepted as an inevitable if unfortunate feature of conflict. This is now changing. While such violence continues to be inflicted on a massive scale, it is now recognised as a threat to development,…
Iraq is haemorrhaging, with no end in sight to the massive and escalating displacement in the face of extreme violence. The security, political, social and financial impact on Iraq, the region and the rest of the world will be felt…
Seven years have passed since NATO forced Serbian security forces to withdraw from Kosovo, Kosovo Albanian refugees returned home and around 250,000 people – mostly but not exclusively Serbs – were displaced into Serbia proper. UN proposals for the future…
While working for a programme to integrate the ‘Lost Boys’ in Syracuse, New York state, I became aware that there are significant discrepancies between typical media narration of their collective experience and the recollections of individuals. Glib articles have focused…
On 28 December 2006 four fishing boats approached the Yemeni coast, manned by smugglers planning to drop off their contraband: 515 people fleeing fighting, insecurity and poverty in the Horn of Africa. Yemeni security forces reportedly shot at two of…
Developed by Columbia University’s Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, in the Mailman School of Public Health1, and Marie Stopes International (MSI)2, the CRHC Programme aims to ensure that the full range of RH needs of IDPs and refugees…