Sexual violence, war crimes and crimes against humanity

For a long time, sexual violence in conflict has been used as a silent and effective weapon in conflicts around the world. Rape has historically been used as a strategy for ethnic cleansing and genocide, as a means of destroying families and communities, as a method of inciting terror and extracting information. For a long time sexual violence was almost invisible. Survivors suffered in silence, shamed for something that was not their fault, shamed by their families, stigmatized, left to fend for themselves and always without understanding and help.

It was not until 1992, when the world was confronted with widespread rapes of women in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, that the issue was brought to the attention of the UN Security Council. As a result of significant public pressure, sexual violence was finally accepted as a weapon of war.

June 19, 2008 marks the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820, which recognized sexual violence as a tactic of war and a threat to global peace and security, thus requiring an operational security and justice response. It also recognized rape and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Kosovo, civil society organizations and human rights activists have raised their voices to highlight the issue of rape that was used against the civilian population, namely women and girls. It took nearly twenty years of struggle, effort and hard work by Kosovo institutions, civil society and UN agencies (especially UN Women) to give a voice to the victims and survivors of sexual violence during the conflict. The law which gives legal recognition to these victims was approved in March 2017 by the Assembly of Kosovo.

It was followed by the establishment of the Government Commission for the recognition and verification of survivors of sexual violence during the conflict in Kosovo. In September last year, the Government of Kosovo allocated a budget for the process of recognizing and verifying the status of survivors of sexual assault. After identification, survivors receive the official status of civilian victims, who are entitled to compensation and monthly pensions.

It is a big step forward, however more needs to be done from a legal and human perspective. Even today, suffering continues, victims or survivors are misunderstood, victimized and left. It is our duty to lobby with other institutions to do everything in our power to recognize these women in the same way as every other victim who suffered during the conflict, to remove the veil of invisibility and shame. They are our mothers, sisters and daughters, and they should be treated with compassion, respect and determination for what they have endured. For most Kosovars, peace came 19 years ago. It is time to work together to bring peace to these women and child survivors of sexual assault and the consequences of conflict-related sexual violence that reverberates across generations through trauma, stigma, poverty, poor health and unwanted pregnancy. .

In fact, this year June 19 is dedicated to "Wounds and the rights of children born from war". This year we will focus on children whose existence stems from sexual violence, who are often referred to as "bad blood" or "children of the enemy". Furthermore, their mothers are more than likely marginalized and overlooked by their families and communities. Children as a result of wartime rape often struggle with issues of identity and belonging for decades after the war ends. They are rarely accepted by society. In addition, unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality in conflict-affected settings, further emphasizing the need to protect women in conflict. Today in memory of the survivors of this unacceptable wartime weapon, this crime against humanity, let us join with the UN secretary-general to "...amplify the voices of these forgotten victims of war, who suffer stigmatization, shame and exclusion in societies polarized by armed conflict."

Ulrika Richardson is the UN Development Coordinator and UNDP Permanent Representative