Recommendation 1873 (2009)

Sexual violence against women in armed conflict

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 29 May 2009 (see Doc. 11916, report of the committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur: Mrs Smet).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, recalling its Resolution 1670 (2009) on sexual violence against women in armed conflict, reminds the Committee of Ministers that the Council of Europe has a duty to ensure that human rights are guaranteed on the territory of Council of Europe member states, as well as a moral obligation to help spread the values of human rights and the rule of law it is founded upon beyond its geographical borders.

2. The Assembly recalls that stopping sexual violence against women in armed conflict is intimately linked with empowering women and changing patriarchal societal models, as well as with ensuring justice is done each and every time a woman is raped in an armed conflict, be it close, on European soil, or far away on another continent. The key to eradicating sexual violence against women in armed conflict is gender equality.

3. The Assembly thus calls on the Committee of Ministers to:

3.1. address a recommendation on the role of women and men in conflict prevention and resolution and in peace building to Council of Europe member states without further delay, paying due attention to the prevention and effective combating of sexual violence against women in armed conflict;

3.2. invite the member states to draw up, if they have not already done so, a national action plan, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on women, peace and security.

4. The Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to instruct the Ad hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO) to include in the future Council of Europe convention the severest and most widespread forms of violence against women, including sexual violence against women in armed conflict.

5. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers provide assistance to member states in dealing with the legacy of past sexual violence against women in armed conflict, for example by assisting the member states in question in the drafting and the implementation of appropriate legislation to grant women victims of sexual violence in armed conflict a status of civil victims of war and help them on their path to full recovery by guaranteeing access to justice, granting pecuniary reparation, as well as medical and psychosocial assistance.