#TIMETOACT

DRAFT
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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
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#TIMETOACT
On 17 July 2014, Youth Delegates from the Global Summit to End Sexual
Violence in Conflict have published draft recommendations for members of
government and civil society.
Youth Delegates welcome any comments, to be sent to the following email
address: youth.esvc@gmail.com
The deadline for such comments is 12 August 2014. Following consideration
of the comments received and any appropriate amendments to the draft, the
final version of the recommendations will be launched in early September
2014, along with the Youth Action Toolkit.
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
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v
Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to wartime sexual violence.
However, young people are not just helpless victims, they are also agents
of change. In many countries, they are leading the charge to end this
scourge. Building a future free of sexual violence in conflict is impossible,
therefore, without the empowerment, participation and leadership of
young people.

ZAINAB BANGURA, UN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
SECRETARY GENERAL ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT
As youth, we represent those most vulnerable to rape and sexual
violence, and those least sought after during the transformative peace
process. For too long our ages have served as a pretext to downplay, and
overlook our recommendations. We have been reduced to social media
activism in the quest for legitimacy, and very few spaces exist for our
voices to be carried to the highest levels. Its time for youth everywhere to
stand in solidarity alongside members of government and civil society and
end the use of rape and sexual violence in conflict.

JOEL DAVIS, US YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE ON SEXUAL
VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT
Preventing sexual violence requires a transformation of society and the
ways in which power is exerted in the home, in the community and
across systems of justice, military, law enforcement, and most of all,
education. This kind of change can only occur when a new generation
takes action and says, enough is enough. Through our work with
doctors, nurses, police, lawyers and judges in conflict zones, we have
seen how perpetrators target women and men, girls and boys of all ages,
and even infants. The voices of the youth can lead the way in putting a
stop to this violence by organizing worldwide, standing up, and speaking
out in their communities.

PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
#TIMETOACT
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
I MPROVI NG THE USE OF EVI DENCE AND DATA
The increase in research on sexual violence in these contexts [conict and post-conict settings]
has been driven by a growing concern about the scale of the problem; as well as the importance
for prevention and response of having data on the magnitude and nature of sexual violence in
conict situationsIn spite of the clear needs for and increased efforts to collect these data, the
evidence base remains scant . - Research Agenda for Sexual Violence in Humanitarian,
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Conict, and Post-Conict Settings

Sexual violence is a pervasive human rights issue with potentially serious effects on physical and
mental health, and social well being. Responding to cases of sexual violence in conict and
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post-conict zones poses signicant challenges to assessing and analysing the nature and
intensity of these atrocious human rights violations. The proper collection, assessment, and
analysis of evidence and data is most crucial in conict settings. Youth recognise that cross-
sectoral response strategies to handling cases of sexual violence are critical, and must be
coordinated by members of government and civil society. Despite the international recognition of
the use of rape as a weapon of war, the success rate for prosecutions of sexually violent crimes is
low in both domestic court settings, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The low success
rate reects the dearth of forensic evidence available in many cases. Youth recognise the
important role forensic evidence plays in ending impunity. The infrequent assessments and
review of humanitarian programme approaches to combatting sexual violence may result in
weak future humanitarian initiatives and negatively impact the ght to end sexual violence in
conict. Youth emphasise that the state is not only responsible for the documentation and
investigation of sexually violent crimes, but also for the training of its medical, legal,
psychosocial, and law enforcement professionals. The need for signicant political will, to fully
and fairly prosecute and investigate these crimes, has never been higher. Similarly, the demands
for data on protection, prevention, and response strategies, humanitarian programme approaches,
advocacy initiatives, justice processes and resource allocations have never been higher, and are
crucial to best coordinate current and future strategies.

There are important legal, methodological, ethical, and safety issues which must be considered
before collecting information on sensitive issues in humanitarian settings. Although many of
those seeking evidence on sexual violence in conict and post-conict settings are motivated by
a desire to end impunity and help survivors, insufcient understanding of and attention to these
issues may lead to harm. - Chen Reis, World Health Organization
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Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Executive Summary: A Research Agenda for Sexual Violence in
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Humanitarian, Conict, and Post-Conict Settings, WHO, Stop Rape Now, MRC Africa (2012)
Eds. Etienne Krug, Linda L. Dalhberg, James A. Mercy, Anthony Zwi & Rachel Lozano, World Report on
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Violence and Health (World Health Organization 2002)
Chen Reis, Sexual Violence as an International Crime: Interdisciplinary Approaches (2013)
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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations


In consideration of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, youth recommend the following
to governments and civil society:


Coordination
Governments and civil society must work together to ensure that evidence and data gathering
activities are coordinated. Evidence and data gathering activities which overlap and co-exist in
an uncoordinated manner may lead to the unintended waste of resources by governments or civil
society. Insufcient understanding of the ethical and proper methodologies for evidence and data
collection (interviews with victims of sexual violence, especially) may lead to re-traumatisation
when victims are asked similar questions by various data collectors from different organisations
and agencies . In coordinating wide-spread data sharing efforts, youth fully endorse the use of
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the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conict
by members of government and civil society. Youth emphasise the need for coordinated annual
reviews of humanitarian programme approaches to combatting sexual violence, to be conducted
by members of government, civil society, and relevant UN agencies. The assessment and
scrutiny of current humanitarian programme approaches must seek to inform future interventions
and strategies in conict and post-conict settings. Youth acknowledge that members of
government and civil society have their own interests in collecting evidence and data. In the
coordination of evidence and data gathering efforts, members of government and civil society
must ensure that all victims (men, women, boys, girls, and other genders) are included in the
reporting of data on sexual violence. Any exclusion of victims due to the specic mandates,
timeframes, denitions, or interests of governments and civil society will inadvertently
misrepresent the scope of sexual violence, and negatively impact the ght to end such atrocities.
Additionally, states must commit to supporting, in all capacities, the establishment of
commissions of inquiry, truth and reconciliation commissions, referrals for international justice
mechanisms to investigate, prosecute, or adjudicate crimes of sexual violence, and the efforts of
UN agencies or civil society to gather and map data. States must also recognise that such
initiatives are independent and impartial. Civil society organisations who gather data on sexual
violence may also wish to use such data for advocacy. Youth recognise the importance of
advocacy in combatting sexual violence, however careful consideration must be given to the use
of data. It is therefore important to assess, in coordination with state and local actors, any risks to
individuals, the community, staff and programmes that may arise as a result of sharing and
publicising data.

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Before embarking on any inquiry into sexual violence in communities affected by armed conflict, natural disaster
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or other form of emergency, those involved in collection and use of information must first ensure that the
information gathering activity is necessary, justified and will benefit the community.
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations

Cross-Sectoral Training
Governments and civil society must take immediate steps to properly train medical, legal,
psychosocial, and law enforcement professionals on how to effectively share information and
interact across sectors. In most conict settings, these sectors have little or no communication
with one another. Youth recognise the need for cross-sectoral trainings, especially in the
collection of evidence and data. The low success rate for prosecutions of cases involving sexual
violence where there is a dearth of forensic evidence reects the need to train professionals
across sectors on effective evidence collection. Understanding and utilising best practices for
maintaing the chain of custody, or documenting certain evidence types which may be collected
before a clinical forensic assessment, are crucial to ending impunity for rapists. Youth also
emphasise the importance of health and psychosocial services, which provide immediate mental,
physical, and social assistance to victims, and also serve as entry points to the law enforcement
and judicial processes. As such, the collection of evidence by health and psychosocial services is
a crucial step in the victims access to justice. States must take care to support health and
psychosocial services with both material and human resources, working in collaboration with
civil society to provide necessary supplies. Youth emphasise that in order to improve the
collection and use of evidence, members from various legal, medical, psychosocial, and law
enforcement sectors must to be trained together by members of government and civil society on
how to properly respond to cases of sexual violence (with special attention paid to cases in
disaster and emergency situations, cases involving men and boys, and cases involving youth).
Trainings on documenting and investigating sexual violence must seek to maximise the access to
justice for survivors, and aim to minimise the negative impact the documentation process may
have victims and their communities. Law enforcement, and legal professionals must be trained to
correctly interpret the forensic medical certicates used by physicians to document sexual
5
violence. All sectors must be trained for emergencies and coordinate the rapid implementation of
prevention and response strategies. Emergency preparedness training is especially important in
rural areas where access to services and communication across sectors is limited.








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Physicians for Human Rights, Forensic Medical Certicate Used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2014)
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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations

Cross-Sectoral Responses to Sexual Violence





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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations


The International Protocol
Youth fully endorse the use and implementation of the International Protocol on the
Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conict, and emphasise its
recommendations for the ethical investigation and documentation of sexual violence. Ethical
considerations for the methodology of evidence and data collection take care to ensure that
victims are interviewed in settings and manners intended to prevent re-traumatisation. Youth also
recognise the World Health Organisations Ethical and Safety Recommendations for
Researching, Documenting, and Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies. The WHO
recommendations which outline the risks and benets of data gathering, proper methodology,
referral to services, safety, condentiality, informed consent, information gathering team
training, and consideration of the particular vulnerabilities of children, complement the
recommendations of the International Protocol. Youth emphasise that these documents are not
intended to be an all-inclusive or stand-alone guidance document for data or evidence gathering
regarding sexual violence in conict. Rather, they are designed to complement and add to
existing professional standards, guidelines, additional practice and oversight tools which govern
research and documentation more broadly in conict and post-conict settings. Youth therefore
acknowledge the locally established procedures for data and evidence collection and for
obtaining consent, the standards and policies of human rights organisations and civil society, the
policies of government on training medical, legal, psychosocial, and law enforcement
professionals, and the internationally agreed upon standards and best practices for interviews and
research involving people.

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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
SEXUAL VI OLENCE AGAI NST MEN AND BOYS
Sexual violence against women and girls has become a central protection concern in
displacement contexts. By contrast, sexual violence against men and boys is less understood or
acknowledged . It is increasingly evident, nevertheless, that this is a recurrent protection concern
6
in situations of conict and displacement. UNHCR, Working with Men and Boy Survivors of
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Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Sexual violence against men and boys has been a feature of conict for centuries. The challenges
to recognising men and boys as victims of sexual violence, and to providing medical,
psychosocial, legal, and law enforcement services reect the distance yet to be covered by
members of government and civil society. Youth recognise that sexual violence perpetrated
against men and boys continues to be downplayed and overlooked by both members of
government and civil society. The prosecution of cases involving sexual violence against men
and boys has revealed certain limitations and tensions in society that must be overcome. Youth
recognise the profound impact of socially constructed gender differences in a conict and post-
conict environment, especially the impact on gender socialisation in early-childhood, which
may enable and condone sexual violence. Youth recognise that the lack of humanitarian
programming available to male victims of sexual violence, and the stigma associated with male
victims of rape in a gendered space, serves as a barrier to justice. A gendered space exists in
areas where the socially constructed gender differences are both profound and conning. In a
gendered space, men remain essentialised as dominative and invulnerable, while women are
consistently perceived to be submissive and weak. Because of these conning characterisations,
men are rarely viewed as victims and women are rarely viewed as perpetrators. These
assumptions and misconceptions regarding sexuality and physiology become barriers to men and
boys trying to access justice and crucial services. Most harmful is the stigma associated with the
rape of men and boys. Male sexual violence is perceived to undermine those essentialised gender
differences on which we have come to rely. In examining male-male sexual violence in conict
settings, it becomes crucial to recognize that the perpetrator may gain power and dominance
through a complex psychosocial process in which homosexual and/or feminine attributes are
imputed to the male victimattributes that may obtain a larger, even more damaging
signicance in wartime. Additionally, youth acknowledge the lack of inclusion for men and
8
boys in existing domestic legal frameworks where the denitions of rape and sexual violence
often exclude male victims of rape. They also acknowledge and condemn the wrongful
conation between discussions of sexual violence against men and boys, and homosexuality.

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Sandesh Sivakumaran, Lost in translation: UN responses to sexual violence against men and boys in situations of
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armed conict, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 92, Number 877, March 2010.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),Working with Men and Boy Survivors of Sexual and Gender-
7
based Violence in Forced Displacement, July 2012,available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/
5006aa262.html[accessed 26 June 2014]
Dustin A. Lewis Unrecognized Victims: Sexual Violence Against Men in Conflict Settings Under International Law
8
(2009) See: I. Phenomena of Sexual Violence Against Men in Armed Conflict
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations

Anyone, regardless of gender or gender identity, can sexually assault a man. However, most
sexual assaults against men are committed by other men, who actually identify themselves as
heterosexual. It's important not to jump to the conclusion that man-against-man sexual assault
only happens between men who are gay. Sexual assault is not about sexual desire or sexual
orientation; it's about violence, control, and humiliation. Brown University, Health Education

Sexual violence against men and boys takes a number of forms and is perpetrated by males,
females, individuals, and gangs. Youth recognise that sexual violence against men and boys is by
no means limited to rape. Enforced sterilisation, beatings administered to the genitals, enforced
nudity, genital mutilation, and enforced masturbation are prevalent in conict and post-conict
environments.

Im laughed atthe people in my village say: Youre no longer a man. Those men in the bush
made you their wife. Male victim of Sexual Violence in the DRC
9


In consideration of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, youth recommend the following
to governments and civil society:


Services
Governments and civil society must establish and support humanitarian programmes that include
male victims of sexual violence, and provide guidance to men and boys on how to access
available medical, legal, and psychosocial services. They must also support existing
humanitarian programmes to expand and include male victims of sexual violence. Governments
and civil society must encourage and facilitate the reporting of male sexual violence to establish
Conict affected countries in which the law does not provide protection to male victims of
Sexual Violence
Afghanistan Iraq Somalia
Colombia Malaysia Somaliland
Central African Republic Nigeria Syria
Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Pakistan Yemen
Egypt Sudan
Kashmir South Sudan
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J. Gettleman, Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims, New York Times, 5 August 2009.
9
Source: Dr. Chris Dolan and A. Luedke, Into the Mainstream: Addressing Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys (2014)
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
a crucial baseline of data. Youth emphasise the need to establish a condential reporting system
for male victims to access and report incidences of sexual violence. Youth recognise the
reluctance in a majority of civil society organisations to focus on sexual violence perpetrated
against men and boys, and the preference to focus on sexual violence perpetrated against women
and girls. The progress toward providing women and girls with access to legal, medical,
psychosocial, and law enforcement services must not be allowed to wane. Though it is unlikely
that the number of men sexually abused in conict zones will ever match the number of women
similarly abused, the argument to focus our attention solely on female sexual violence only
serves to negatively impact the ght to end sexual violence. Doctors, social workers,
humanitarian aid workers, and law enforcement present on the ground often fail to identify the
signs of male sexual violence. Men are not perceived as being as vulnerable to sexual violence as
women, therefore health workers might not pay as much attention to detecting signs of sexual
violence in men as they otherwise might in women. Medical and health professionals who do
identify the signs of male sexual violence often focus exclusively on male rape. Forms of male
sexual violence other than rape (i.e.: enforced sterilisation, beatings administered to the genitals,
enforced nudity, genital mutilation, and enforced masturbation, et. al.) are prevalent in conict
and post-conict environments. All this is compounded by the fact that sexual violence against
men may not leave any visible scars, whereas the resulting effects of other forms of abuse may
divert the attention of medical workers away from the signs of sexual violence. Governments,
along with members of civil society, need to begin training in-eld staff on how to properly
respond to and treat male victims of sexual violence. In-eld staff must adhere to the ethical
considerations for victim interviews, and evidence and data gathering activities set forth in the
International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conict
Zones. Data must be accessible by members of civil society, government, and relevant UN
agencies to foster humanitarian programming approach reviews. Youth also recognise the need
for synergy between DDR programmes and humanitarian programmes with services targeted at
assisting male victims of sexual violence. When victims are excluded from demobilisation and
reintegration assistance programmes, they may then be left alone to deal with the
psychologically scarring effects of conict and the health problems related to acts of sexual
violence. Furthermore, they may not receive any nancial or skills development support and
have to face the challenges of social and economic reintegration on their own. The risk of
becoming socially isolated is high, making these victims more vulnerable to trafcking, or
rejoining armed rebel factions, thus perpetuating a cycle of sexual violence.


Education
Governments and civil society must support long-term gender-role transformation goals, and
establish, in collaboration with civil society organisations, nation-wide educational initiatives
intended to ameliorate the stigma associated with male sexual violence, and shift community
attitudes. These education initiatives must take place in formal and informal settings, targeting
schools, families, and broader communities, and work to combat the assumptions that mask and
silence male victims of sexual violence. They should aim to combat the pre-existing gender
inequalities between men and women, and aim to create a safe space for male victims of sexual
violence to come forward. These safe spaces are created by humanitarian services facilitating
community and family discussions on male sexual violence. Youth recognise that the feelings of
shame, humiliation, and guilt, endured by male victims of sexual violence contributes to the
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Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
widespread underreporting of incidences involving male sexual violence. These feelings are
reinforced by community standards, family members, friends, and laws in place which regard
rape as a women's issue, and the prevailing destructive social norms which denigrate homosexual
and feminine qualities, often attributed to male victims of sexual violence. Men and boys are
excluded as victims when considerations of male sexual violence overlap and become entangled
with accusations of homosexuality. Perpetrators of male sexual violence may gain power when
rape and sexual violence are perceived to emasculate the victim. The psychologically and
emotionally damaging effects of male sexual violence are numbered and complex. Male victims
may perceive an incompatibility with their masculinity and victimhood, and they may also
experience confusion and guilt regarding their sexual orientation. These experiences impede
comprehensive data gathering initiatives, to accurately assess the verity and scope of male sexual
violence in conict zones. In order to combat these harmful stereotypes which exacerbate the
effects of male sexual violence, youth recommend the creation of nation-wide awareness
campaigns, aimed to distinguish between male sexual violence and homosexuality, and disperse
information regarding sexuality, physiology, and of available medical, legal, psychosocial, and
law enforcement services. Awareness campaigns must be a collaboration between state and local
actors, and members of civil society. Youth highlight the demands for data on male victims of
sexual violence, and recognise that all major statistics collected thus far, have been from adult
males. The exclusion of boys in data gathering initiatives misrepresents the scope of sexual
violence perpetrated against males. States must ensure that all victims of sexual violence are
included in data gathering efforts, in services, and in laws. Government and members of civil
society should also adopt gender-neutral language when referring to victims of rape and sexual
violence in distributed health materials and in advocacy campaigns.

Legal Reform
Governments must take steps to ensure that even in the absence of implementation, laws are in
place to address and include sexual violence perpetrated against men and boys. In the laws of
many conict-affected states, the crime of rape is dened in reference to a male-perpetrator-
female-victim relationship. As such, rape is regarded solely as a crime against women, and men
are excluded from the purview of victimhood. The International Criminal Court (ICC) provides
10
the greatest leadership on the inclusion of male and female victims of sexual violence into the
denition of rape, and as such should be used as a model for renovating domestic penal code.
The crimes listed in the Rome Statute are gender-neutral, and thus it is recognised that each of
the listed crimes is capable of being committed against men and boys. Youth recognise the many
barriers to legal reform in conict-affected states, including the ideological dialogues which
wrongfully conate male sexual violence and homosexuality. In many cases, male victims of
sexual violence who approach law enforcement services are at risk of charges of homosexual
conduct being brought upon them. Youth emphasise the right for all victims of sexual violence,
regardless of gender or sexual orientation, to be recognised under domestic law, and underscore
their right to access medical, legal, psychosocial, and law enforcement services, and their right to
remedies and reparations.


12
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, art. 7(3), United Nations Doc. A/CONF. 183/9 (1998)
10
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
PROTECTION, PREVENTION, AND RESPONSE STRATEGIES
In consideration of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, youth recommend the following
to governments and civil society:


Protection
Governments must ensure the safety and security of its people, especially in times of conict
and/or emergency. With regards to refugees and internally displaced peoples (IDPs), youth
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acknowledge that the primary objective of displacement and relocation initiatives is to nd and
access safe environments. During transitions through conict and displacement, refugees and
IDPs continue to live in states of heightened vulnerability to sexual violence due to the
breakdown of family and social structures, and changes to law enforcement and protective
services. Women and children face the additional risks of being subjected to sexual and gender-
based violence when eeing the ghting and seeking asylum. Family members are often
dispersed during ight, leaving children separated from the rest of their families and women as
solely responsible for protecting and maintaining their households. It is therefore vital to
preserve the rights and securities of refugees by adhering to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and
the 1995 UNHCR Sexual Violence against Refugees: Guidelines on Prevention and Response.
Youth also recognise the critical role that human rights defenders play in conict and post-
conict areas, and the risk of sexual violence through reprisal, perpetrated against human rights
defenders (particularly women). Therefore, youth recommend that states work in collaboration
with civil society organisations, to provide gender-sensitive support and protection of human
right defenders. This is supported by the 2013 Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual
Violence in Conict that commits all signatories to: encourage, support, and protect the efforts
of civil society organisations, including womens rights groups, and human rights defenders, to
improve the monitoring and documentation of cases of sexual and gender-based violence in
conict without fear of reprisal and empower survivors to access justice. In conict affected
regions where there is little state authority or control, the international community should work
to establish diplomatic missions to implement the initiatives and protections which enable and
empower human rights defenders and humanitarian programming. Additionally, youth recognise
the importance for providing security to victims of sexual violence - especially victims entering
the reparations process. In many communities, there is a risk of overexposure, and a fear that
stigma or reprisal may follow if a victim testies openly. It is therefore essential that a victims
condentiality be guaranteed throughout the entire reparations process, for instance, by allowing
victims to give testimonies or provide evidence in private, at a distance, or through proxy.
Ensuring the condentiality, safety, and dignity for victims who choose to testify in cases of
sexual violence will empower and encourage other victims of sexual violence to step forward.
13
The term refugee refers also to asylum-seekers, returnees and internally displaced persons, both female and
11
male, children and adults. Similarly, the term refugee settings refers to transit facilities, reception centres, refugee
camps, places of detention for asylum-seekers, way-stations during repatriation movements, and centres for
communities of internally displaced persons.
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations

Prevention
Governments and members of civil society must take action to ensure that all states criminalise
rape, and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence as crimes, under International Law,
and dene them in accordance with the highest international standards . It is essential for a
12
domestic legal framework in collaboration with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to exist
in conict-affected countries, so that sexually violent crimes, especially those which are
exceptionally brutal and sadistic (R.E.V.) , can be prosecuted as an International Crime. Without
13
the domestication of international legal standards, there cannot be a fully efcient and effective
investigation/prosecution of the perpetrators. All signatories of the UN Declaration of
14
Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conict should undertake an immediate review of their
national laws to ensure they reect the commitment and standards of the ICC and the greater
international community. Governments and members of civil society must work together to
identify and eradicate the barriers to investigating and prosecuting crimes of sexual violence
under international law, which include statutes of limitation, discriminatory laws, and policies
and practices that exclude victims from crucial services and reparations processes. In many
conict-affected countries, national laws fails to provide a legal framework that recognises all
forms of sexual violence as crimes, in accordance with the internationally agreed upon standards.
For example, legislation may require the use of force in an act of sexual violence, rather than a
lack of consent. In other countries, conning evidentiary standards and procedural rules serve as
barriers to justice . Youth emphasise the need for all states to accede to following Treaties (if
15
they have not already done so): The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional
Protocol, Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and its
Optional Protocol, Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and
domestic violence (European states), The Convention on the Non-applicability of Statutory
Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, The Inter-American Convention on the
Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Convention of Belem do
Para) (OAS states), The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa (African Union member states), and The UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Additionally, members of the international community must take action to ensure
that the risks of conict are reduced. Youth strongly encourage all governments to sign and ratify
14
See Youth Recommendation 3: Sexual Violence Against Men & Boys, Rec. 3: Legal Reform, for more detailed
12
information
Mukengere Mukwege D, Nangini C (2009) Rape with Extreme Violence: The New Pathology in South Kivu,
13
Democratic Republic of Congo. PLoS Med 6(12): e1000204. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000204
See IOR530092010 Amnesty International International Criminal Court: Updated Checklist for Effective
14
Implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC May 2010
For example, in many Muslim countries following sharia, two men must have witnessed the act of violence.
15
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
the Arms Trade Treaty , and ensure that adequate standards of living are fullled for all. These
16
standards can be met through the use and coordination of context appropriate social protection
mechanisms and livelihood interventions. States should also refer to independent sources of
17
information when assessing the risk of arms being used to commit sexual violence and other
human rights violations. If they have not done so already, states should provide funding to
18
fulll the commitments made under the End Sexual Violence Initiative agenda. States should
also employ gender-sensitive budgeting, especially in post-conict settings, to provide
medical, legal, psychosocial, and law enforcement services to victims of rape and sexual
violence. Youth stress the need for governments to continue coordinating and contributing
19
resources and data to the United Nations Team of Experts to ensure the creation of a
comprehensive and effective response plan to sexual violence in disasters and emergencies (ex:
Justice Rapid Response Mechanism, et. al).
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Response
Governments and members of civil society must provide training and support to duty holders and
rst responders of sexual violence, to ensure that humanitarian interventions are proper and
timely. Training and support must be ongoing, and directed by members of government and civil
society. Given the critical role that duty holders and rst responders play, especially law
enforcement, legal, psychosocial, and medical professionals, states should ensure the availability
of adequate and accessible mechanisms that support the investigation and prosecution of rape
and sexual violence. Youth emphasise that survivors of sexual violence have the right to receive
full reparations: compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-
repetition for the crimes committed against them. Reparation for victims is focused on
21
15
The treaty is incredibly important in that it recognises that civilian women and children are disproportionately
16
adversely affected by armed conict and armed violence and required arms exporting states to assess the risk of
their arms being used to commit gender-based violence that could amount to crimes under international law of war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (Article 6), serious violations of international humanitarian law or
human rights law (Article 7(1)) or other serious acts of gender-based violence and violence against women and
children (Article 7(4)).
See Youth Recommendations 3: Sexual Violence Against Men & Boys Rec. 2, Education, Rec. 1, Services, for for
17
information on the role of education in combatting sexual violence and ameliorating the harmful stigma associated
with rape. Social protection mechanisms like gender-transformative education initiatives, and providing
psychosocial and medical services are crucial to ending the use of rape and sexual violence.
For example, UN Secretary-Generals Annual Reports on conict related sexual violence and on children and
18
armed conict
IOR 53/006/2014 Amnesty International May 2014: Combating sexual Violence in Conict: Recommendations to
19
states at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conict
The Justice Rapid Response (JRR) is an intergovernmental facility that manages the rapid deployment of criminal
20
justice professionals from a stand-by roster and can be contacted at its Secretariat based in Geneva or liaison ofces
in The Hague and New York.
IOR 53/006/2014 Amnesty International May 2014: Combating sexual Violence in Conict: Recommendations to
21
states at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conict
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
restoring the well-being of survivors, and ensuring them a place of dignity in society through
concrete forms of assistance, while additionally identifying, establishing responsibility, and
providing punishment to the perpetrator. The right to justice for victims of violence and human
rights violations has been extensively afrmed and developed in international law, from the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on
the Right to Remedy and Reparations for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human
Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law of 2005. Though both
International Human Rights Law, and International Humanitarian Law recognises the right to
remedy and reparations for victims of sexual violence, weak judicial institutions and the sheer
number of victims makes the prospect of judicial reparations slim. Survivors of sexual violence
face considerable economic, educational, and cultural barriers in gaining access to justice. Both
their health and social needs must be addressed in order to effectively respond to the crimes
committed against them. Legislation in many countries still does not adequately recognise sexual
violence as a crime (i.e.: failing to recognise male sexual violence rape). Youth urge
governments to ensure that survivors receive holistic, integrated, and effective services which
include sexual and reproductive health rights, psychosocial and legal services, livelihood
support, shelter, and services to address negative coping mechanisms. In conict-affected states
with high frequencies of sexual violence, youth encourage states to plan for large-scale
reparations scenarios . Youth endorse the establishment of temporary transitional justice
22 23
bodies to address the specic needs of survivors of sexual violence during conict, and
emphasise the need for political will on the part of the prosecutor to prosecute crimes of sexual
violence, comprehensive training for all staff to develop skills in sexual violence investigations,
care for the well-being, safety, and dignity of victims of sexual violence, including the provision
of information, support and protection services, comprehensive witness preparation programmes,
and an enabling court room environment where victims are treated with sensitivity, respect,
and care when they come forward to testify. Youth emphasise the need for the state to provide a
safe space in which the victim can testify. The option to testify or to provide evidence in private,
16
Megan B., Karin G., Rahel K., Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict Global Overview See Page 161 The Truth and
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Reconciliation for Sierra Leone made recommendations for an extensive reparations programme. A broad definition
of potential beneficiaries was adopted, and reparations were not limited to those who participated in the Commission
(as in South Africa) or to civilians (which would have excluded a large number of victims of sexual violence,
including ex- combatant women and girls). Survivors of sexual violence, including men and boys, were among the
categories of victims prioritised by the Commission. The Commission decided not to apply the threshold
reduction of earning capacity test to victims of sexual violence in recognition of the fact that many victims of
sexual violence suffer a tremendous amount of stigma ... are rejected by their own communities and families and
because of this, many victims find it difficult to sustain themselves, regardless of the injury they have sustained as a
result of a violation committed against them. Recommended reparations for survivors of sexual violence included
gynaecological service and surgery, the provision of HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, counseling and psycho-social
support, skills training, micro-credit programmes, and individual pensions. The TRC also recommended symbolic
reparations in the form of recognition and apologies by individuals and groups responsible for abuses committed.
This led to all combatant factions apologising in public for gender-based crimes committed by their troops.
See U.N. Office of the High Commr for Human Rights, Rule-of-Law Tools for Post-Conict States: Reparations
23
Programmes, at 5, U.N. Doc. HR/PUB/08/1 (2008), available at http:// www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/
ReparationsProgrammes.pdf. A recent example of the many shortcomings of the criminal process as a path for
victims to obtain reparations is provided by Colombias 2005 Justice and Peace Law. L. 975, julio 25, 2005,
DIARIO OFFICIAL [D.O.] (Colom.). This law contemplates the reduction of sentences for perpetrators willing to
give full confessions and articulates a procedure for awarding victims reparations, in the case of express petition by
the victim. However, after almost six years of the Justice and Peace Law, no reparations have been paid through this
process. See Colombia: http:// www.cja.org/article.php?id=863
Youth Action Toolkit | Recommendations
at a distance, or through proxy, is therefore crucial, especially in conict settings. Interventions
and services must be assessed and developed at the community and local levels in coordination
with members of government to create specic national programmes of assistance and plans for
reparations, in line with the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and
Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious
Violations of International Humanitarian Law. States must ensure that survivors of sexual
violence are guaranteed their sexual and reproductive rights, and can access the full range of
health and information services required. Additionally, youth urge states to consistently reject
amnesties for crimes of sexual violence in peace agreements and ensure the inclusion of all
forms of sexual violence in the denition of acts prohibited by ceaseres and in provisions for
ceasere monitoring .
24


17
Amnesty International Combatting Sexual Violence in Conflict: Recommendations (2014)
24
THE VULNERABILITIES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Child soldiers serve within militaries and armed groups in which complete cooperation and
obedience is demanded, in contexts where moral and legal safeguards against their abuse may
have broken down. In this context sexual violence becomes sexual exploitation. - UNICEF

In consideration of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, youth recommend the following
to governments and civil society:

Children
Governments and members of civil society must recognise the vulnerabilities of children and the
unique dangers they face in conict-affected countries, and ensure the provision of age-sensitive
services in humanitarian programming approaches to combatting sexual violence. States should
also ensure the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child through
National Action Plans. Youth recognise the heightened vulnerability of children in times of
conict and emergency, when they may experience psychosocial as well as cognitive
complexities because of factors such as injury or sexual health related illness; destruction of and
displacement from the protective inuence of home, school and community; and suspension of
essential services. Conict and emergency settings thus increase the vulnerability of children to
various forms of violence and exploitation, which have serious consequences that need to be
addressed in a systematic manner. Particularly vulnerable are orphans, children born of rape,
former child soldiers, trafcked children, displaced children, disabled and marginalised children,
and those in exploitative industries. Youth emphasise girls and boys rights to sustained and
promoted protection from violence and exploitation, and their right to access critical
humanitarian services. Accessible psychosocial support is especially critical for children in
conict-settings, to strengthen the coping mechanisms and resilience of girls and boys exposed
to continuously high thresholds of violence, and to provide access to medical, legal, and law
enforcement services if they are/have been a victim of sexual violence. Youth also recognise the
prevalent use of children in armed conict, and condemn the abduction and employment of child
soldiers. The trafcking of child soldiers is directly connected to sexual violence and the sexual
exploitation of children who are mainly, but not exclusively, young girls. Child soldiers are both
victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. The are easily inculcated with military rhetoric to
perceive rape as a strategy of war, and are used in the front lines of battle, as sex slaves for
soldiers, and are often forced to rape and perpetrate sexual violence against each other. Youth
emphasise the need for greater security and intervention programmes in low and high risk
settings. Children are abducted by armed groups in high risk areas, and while carrying out the
chores of daily living: cultivating their elds, attending school, transporting goods, etc. , it is
25
therefore important to establish accessible law enforcement and protective services in all
environments. Youth acknowledge the need for the root causes of the voluntary recruitment of
18
Photos courtesy of the United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office on Flickr. Album: Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.
See photos and album at http://bittyurl.co/4nm2 Photos modified for recommendations.
Jill Trenholm, Pia Olsson, Martha Blomqvist and Beth Maina Ahlberg Men and Masculinities: Constructing
25
Soldiers from Boys in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (2013) 16: 203 originally published online 16 January
2013 DOI: 10.1177/1097184X12470113
child soldiers must be addressed by the state, to plan effective and timely intervention strategies.
The childs parental and family background, peer groups, school, and religious community can
strongly inuence their decision to ght. Poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, intellectual and
developmental immaturity, and a lack of formal education prevent children from making an
informed choice or even understanding why they are ghting . States must also provide the
26
necessary means for the reintegration of child soldiers back into society, with psychosocial
services and humanitarian assistance provided to guarantee the non-repetition of sexually violent
crimes. In addition to being the most vulnerable in times of conict, young people are also the
most underrepresented in the transformative peace process and in conversations with state and
humanitarian actors. Youth recognise the important role that young people have to play in
designing, implementing, and monitoring effective interventions. In order to effectively end the
use sexual violence in conict, governments and members of civil society must create
meaningful spaces for youth to be heard, and included in the planning of future interventions.

Women
Youth recognise that women and girls are disproportionately affected by sexual and gender-
based violence in conict and post-conict zones. This phenomenon stems from the prevailing
social norms and gender inequalities that drive our society. It operates as a means to maintain
and reinforce womens subordinate status in society and the family. Women are subjected to
gender- based violence throughout their lives, beginning with sex-selective abortions and female
infanticide, to female genital mutilation (FGM), intimate partner sexual violence, and broader
sexual violence in armed conict. Recognising that sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated
against women and girls is rooted rmly in the attitudes, social behaviours, and cultural norms,
which reect such inequalities, governments and members of civil society must prioritise
investment in quality education for all, to shift the stigma of sexual violence from the victims, to
the perpetrators. Youth urge all states to recognise womens potential for building sustainable
peace at local, national, and regional levels. As such, states and civil society organisations alike
must ensure that women have equal representation at every level of the transformative peace
process, as well as in the design, implementation, and accountability mechanisms of survivor
focused resilience strategies. Youth recognise the need for assessments of the treatment of
women in national military bodies, and urge civil society organisations and the UN Womens
Protection Advisers in Peacekeeping Operations to complete yearly assessments of the treatment
of women in national military bodies. Youth also urge states to adopt strategic and accountable
measures to ensure the full and effective implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions
on Women, Peace and Security, including UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the UN
Security Council Resolution 2106. This must be facilitated by specic, ring-fenced funding, and
include effective and accountable National Action Plans for the implementation of UN Security
Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008). Recognising the integral role of womens
empowerment in tackling sexual and gender-based violence, states should also allocate specic
funding to advance gender equality in line with the UN 7 Point Action Plan on Gender-
19
See Wessels, supra note 52, at 39. See also Tiffany A. Richards, The War is Over But the Battle Has Just Begun:
26
Enforcing A Childs Right to Education in the Wake of Armed Conflict, 23 PENN. ST. INTL L. REV. 203, 205-06
(2004)
Responsive Peace building (2010). States must recognise that measures to prevent gender and
sexual violence in conict must be effectively integrated within a broader women, peace and
security agenda, with emphasis placed on womens political participation and leadership, and
demonstrate a zero tolerance policy of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated against
women and girls. Governments and multilateral organisations must pledge to build capacities of
womens rights organisations and womens legal organisations through the provision of
technical, material, and human resources, and the provision of gender-sensitive trainings to
ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of sexual and gender based crimes under
international law, in line with international standards and best practices. Youth also encourage
states to provide access for women to truth and reconciliation commissions and post-violence
reform initiatives in order to guarantee that women play a central part in dening the scope,
remit, and design of all post-conict justice mechanisms. States should offer technical assistance
to conict-affected countries and contribute human and material resources to the UN Team of
Experts, the UK Team of Experts, and to Justice Rapid Response strategies. The development of
gender-sensitivity training programmes for military and security personnel should follow
extensive consultation with civil society actors, and should be in accordance with UN Security
Council Resolution 2106 (2013). Youth recognise the need for men and boys to be actively
engaged with the ght to end gender inequality and violence against women, and call upon men
and boys to support and promote womens rights movements at the local, national, and
international level .
27

20
See UN Womens #HeForShe Campaign at http://heforshe.org
27
v
BOSNIA
Lejla Damon

CTE DIVOIRE
Charlene Boni

COLUMBIA
Isabelita Mercado

DEM. REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Esperance Masika

Faida Kasilembo

FRANCE
Ariane Maixandeau

GUATEMALA
Mayra Coc Cacao

INDIA
Meghali Pandey

INDONESIA
Haikal Bekti Anggoro

IRAQ
Mays Al-Juboori

KOSOVO
Suad Dedushi


LIBERIA
Massa Kumba

Trokon Monghah

MEXICO
Belem Ramrez Mayn

Karen Lara

PALESTINE
Rand Jarallah

SIERRA LEONE
Princess Elliot

SOMALIA
Omar Abdullah

SOUTH KOREA
Daniel Kwon

UGANDA
Polline Akello

Brbra Amwata

UNITED KINGDOM
Alexis Long

Jac Larner

Jessica Ewing

Rachel Statham

UNITED STATES
Joel Davis

YOUTH DELEGATES
21
#TIMETOACT
Photos courtesy of the United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office on Flickr. Album: Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.
See photos and album at http://bittyurl.co/4nm2 Photos modified for recommendations.
22