Last month, a group of high-level mediators, subject experts, and women’s rights advocates convened to discuss means of addressing conflict-related sexual violence in peace processes. The Colloquium – organized by UNIFEM , UNDP , DPA , DPKO , and OCHA , on behalf of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict , and in partnership with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue – was a response to OP 3 and OP 12 of Security Council Resolution 1820 , which call on the UN system (and the wider international community) to address this issue in efforts at mediation and conflict-resolution. Read GFW advisor Luz Mendez's notes about the experience of women in Guatemala.

Presentation to the UN Security Council Meeting on Sexual Violence and Peace Negotiations

During the Guatemalan peace negotiations, where I took part, sexual violence was not addressed as a weapon of war. Even though the peace accords were comprehensive and we were able to include specific commitments in favor of women, we did not incorporate in the discussions at the table any analysis, any data that could suggest the magnitude of sexual violence in the armed conflict. So, we only included the penalization of sexual harassment in the accords, but neglected to address rape and other forms of sexual violence.

When the UN sponsored truth commission-created as a result of the peace accords- undertook its deep investigation, the hidden dimension of war came to the surface. In its historic report the commission stated that sexual violence had been used by State agents as part of the counterinsurgent campaigns as a weapon of war, in a widespread and massive way, with the intention of creating terror among the civilian population. The horrific sexual crimes were publicly known; the data showed that 99% of the victims were women. Of them, 9 out of 10 were Mayan. They were, at the same time, victims of other human rights violations, especially during the big massacres between 1980 an 1982, where their husbands were killed and their houses were burned; afterwards many of the survivors had to flee and live during years as internally displaced people or refugees.

Twelve years after the peace accords, women survivors of sexual violence in the war are suffering the physical, psychological and social consequences. Silence and lack of state policies and actions is the context that surrounds them. I am now part of a coalition of organizations from the women’s movement and the human rights movement, which is putting in place a program aimed at the empowerment of women survivors of sexual violence, through psychosocial support from a gender perspective; advocacy for specific measures of confidentiality and confidence for women survivors of sexual violence, so they can be eligible for reparations, preventing exposure and re-stigmatization. We are also doing educational campaigns through local radio stations and theater peaces, addressing the communities in order to end social stigma toward the survivors. Even though in the majority of the cases women were raped before the whole community, now those communities blame the survivors for such crimes, as sexual violence is a human rights violation by which shame and guilty is put over the shoulders of the victims rather than the perpetrators.

The demands of the women survivors of sexual violence include reparations, justice and livelihood means. In a country with so high levels of impunity and a weak justice system, women give special importance to symbolic reparations, which have the meaning of alternative ways of justice, without resigning to formal justice. This includes the state’s recognition of its responsibility and asking forgiveness for the damages caused to women. Women also value very much building historical memory so the society do not forget the sufferings they endured, as well as their struggles to restore their lives, to raise their children and rebuild their communities. I would like to convey to you the words of a Guatemalan Mayan woman who survived sexual violence in the war “They killed my husband, they burned my house and they robbed my dignity. Now I want justice, I want livelihood means, and I want my dignity back”.

A strong women survivors´ demand is non repetition. This is because, as the reality has showed, victims of sexual violence have more risks of being raped again, as they are undervalued by their communities; but also because violence against women, including the high levels of femicide, has become one of the biggest social problems for women in the current stage after the armed conflict.

We must recognize that sexual violence has been the greatest silence of wars. If we want to stop it, it is crucial that this social problem be addressed in peace negotiations and included in the accords. To this end, it is indispensable that mediators and all actors involved in peace negotiations understand the nature of sexual violence as a human rights abuse that requires specific responses. The first step is to include women’s experiences in the analysis of the war; to ask that any examination of the context include a gender perspective.

Ensure that women’s needs and proposals are part of the peace accords. In order to achieve this, women have to be equally represented in any peace process at a decision making level. Support women’s participation in the table of peace negotiations, either as mediators, party members, experts, representatives of the civil society and part of the groups of friends. To this end, the Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 have to be implemented simultaneously, as both resolutions reinforce each other.

Coming from a country where implementation of the accords has been extremely week, I make a strong call for putting special attention to the implementation and follow-up bodies and mechanisms. The peace accords have to mandate the specific inclusion of sexual violence in all the implementing mechanisms, as well as in all the follow-up reports.

The Security Council Resolutions 1820, whose first anniversary we are commemorating, is a strong call to act in order to stop sexual violence. Talking with Mr. Jan Egeland about the times of the peace negotiations in Guatemala, I told him that this resolution came too late in many senses for my country, but it is not too late for women in Colombia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal and other countries. Just the day before yesterday 70 women were raped in a prison of Goma, in the DRC. We have to stop it and we have to stop it now.