Since the adoption of UNSCR 1820 in 2008, United Nations peacekeeping operations have come under increased pressure to prevent conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) conducted by local security actors. Still, the outcomes from peacekeeping preventive actions are reported to often fall far short of public expectations. 1 To address that problem, there is an ongoing debate on how to enhance peacekeeping operations' effectiveness. For example, the UN Security Council held a Debate on CRSV on 23 April 2019 with the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Ms. Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege speaking before the Council. The resolution adopted, UNSCR 2467, stated that the Security Council '[r]ecognizes the need to integrate the prevention, response and elimination of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations […] including in relevant authorizations and renewals of the mandates of peace missions through the inclusion of operational provisions'. In preparations for the anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in 2020, the first resolution to recognize that violence targeting women is relevant for international peace and security, further calls on the UN to improve its track record of preventing CRSV is a critical theme. At the practitioner level, military forums are discussing how to clarify military responsibilities and improve their practical contributions to prevention. 2 As noted by Lotze in this Forum: 'Consolidating the gains
Despite assumptions about the ubiquity of wartime sexual violence, some armed actors work hard to generate negative views of rape and other abuses. This article qualitatively explores rebel group stigmatisation (and stigma) of wartime sexual violence and prohibitive normative practices. Regularly discussed with reference to the shaming of victims or survivors, stigmatisation is nonetheless utilised here as a concept for understanding how sexual coercion is "made" deviant and consequential for potential perpetrators. Two rebel groups from Burundi's civil war (1994-2008), CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and FNL (Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation), are compared. The FNL stigmatised rape and sexual assault, and the nature and quality of its practices shaped negative social norms surrounding rape. The article's main contribution is to demonstrate the need to deepen and widen the evidence base on the prevention of wartime sexual violence.
Protection of civilians has become a core feature of UN peacekeeping. A normative shift in the 1990s led to new mandates and priorities in peacekeeping operations. This has occurred in parallel to the policy shift toward emphasizing the security of women. This chapter asks whether these two goals—protection of civilians and the security of women—go hand in hand or if there are tensions in the way they are pursued. Expectations formulated by the Security Council are examined as well as the operational activities and priorities on the ground. This chapter suggests that as UN actors move away from a singular focus on the weapon of war narrative, the protection of civilians discourse will evolve and thus create space for greater consideration of the WPS agenda. It also argues that peace support operations that tackle values and attitudes through training may address gender hierarchies and relations, while also securing the safety of women through patrols and escorts.
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