Statement of Canada at the May 15 Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict

We underline that a climate of impunity discourages reporting, undermines assistance and abets further violations. Addressing sexual violence in conflict must be seen as a means of conflict prevention. We therefore call for accountability for crimes of sexual violence in armed conflict, including those amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. The effective investigation and documentation of sexual violence in armed conflict is instrumental in ensuring access to justice for victims by holding perpetrators to account. We have several important accountability mechanisms in place. However, accountability also depends on adequate legal and evidentiary frameworks to prosecute such crimes. In that regard, we highlight the international protocol on the documentation and investigation of sexual violence in conflict, as well as the work of the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Furthermore, we recommend that international accountability mechanisms and the Security Council’s own sanctions regimes be mandated and resourced to investigate sexual violence in conflict specifically. We welcome efforts to bring Da’esh and other terrorist groups to justice for crimes its members have committed in conflict, including sexual violence. But we must also remember that the military defeat of perpetrators is not a substitute for prosecuting crimes and recognizing the suffering of victims.

Accountability and the prevention of sexual violence should be included in peace agreements, including, where appropriate, in transitional justice mechanisms promoting justice, truth, reparations, and measures to prevent their reoccurrence. Amnesties should not be granted to perpetrators of sexual violence, and sexual violence should be explicitly prohibited by the terms of ceasefires and peace agreements. Within the United Nations, Force Commanders should meet more often with civil society, and troop- and police-contributing countries should deploy more women as channels for vital early warning information.

Accountability must be accompanied by effective and multi-sectoral support to survivors, whose deep trauma can persist long after the conflict has ended. Greater efforts are needed at all levels to ensure that survivors have access to the full range of livelihood, legal, psychosocial and non-discriminatory medical services. We must stand in solidarity with survivors not just in words but also in actions. Additionally, humanitarian assistance has to address sexual and gender-based violence by preventive as well as responsive measures, and should be based on a gender-sensitive programmatic approach.

Furthermore, we must not allow the crime of sexual violence to be compounded by the shame of stigma, the consequences of which are all too real and often deadly. Such stigma only exacerbates the marginalization of survivors and is a barrier to their full recovery and reintegration in their societies. Societies, including traditional and religious leaders, must rally to support survivors. We must declare once and for all that shame rests on the perpetrators, not on their victims.

Secondly, the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war demands an effective and timely response. Member States cannot simply denounce the situation without taking actions within their power to assist survivors. That is why Canada contributes to Justice Rapid Response in order to help respond to and investigate sexual violence. It is also why we have committed to hosting approximately 1,200 survivors of Da’esh this year, in particular vulnerable Yazidi women and children and their families. We welcome the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and of the United Kingdom to address the stigma that befalls the survivors.