Press Releases

Barriers, Opportunities to Investigating Reproductive Harms Revealed SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 — A new report published today by UN Women and the Global Justice Center (GJC) uncovers barriers and opportunities to the documentation of reproductive violence faced by UN-mandated mechanisms charged with investigating human rights violations and international crimes. The report, based on interviews conducted with current and former gender advisors to UN investigative mechanisms, also offers detailed legal guidance to support future investigations. Reproductive violence is a distinct form of sexual and gender-based violence targeting reproductive autonomy, a right protected under international law. Examples of reproductive violence include forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, forced abortion, and restricting access to reproductive care.  This form of violence often has been overlooked in UN investigations, despite its profound impacts. GJC’s research reveals that stigmatization of reproductive issues, as well as structural and analytical barriers in investigations, have hindered documentation. The report also details that this oversight can foster a lack of accountability for perpetrators, gaps in services and reparations for victims, and an incomplete historical record. “From Ethiopia to Myanmar, sexual and gender-based violence continues around the world. If we want to halt these atrocities and bring justice for victims, international investigations must be equipped to document them fully,” said Tess Graham, report co-author and legal advisor at the Global Justice Center. “This is especially true for under-reported forms of gender-based violence like reproductive violence. By harnessing positive examples of documentation, and learning from shortcomings, we can ensure UN investigations have the tools they need to advance accountability and appropriate support for victims.” The report provides an analysis of international law on reproductive violence and details several “facilitating factors” that can foster its effective documentation. The report also provides examples of successful documentation of reproductive violence and concludes that it is “far from impossible” despite the challenges.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—June 17, 2016 [NEW YORK, NY] – Yesterday, the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Syria concluded that ISIS is committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Yazidi people. The report, “They Came to Destroy”: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis, recognizes that the genocide is ongoing and is being committed not just through mass killings but also through gendered non-killing crimes such as rape and sexual violence. “The report confirms not only that over 3,200 women and children remain in captivity, but that they are daily subjected to genocidal acts,” says Global Justice Center (GJC) president Janet Benshoof, “it’s time for the international community to act on its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent, suppress, and punish genocide.” In December 2015, GJC sent a brief to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in support of Yazda and Free Yezidi Foundation’s submission, asking the ICC to investigate ISIS’s gender-based crimes against Yazidi women and girls. “As our submission stated and the COI’s report confirms, genocide is being carried out along sharply divided gender lines,” says Benshoof. “Any actions to prevent and punish these genocidal acts must take into account the role that gender plays in the way genocide is being carried out.” The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has been working since the summer of 2015 to raise awareness of the genocide of the Yazidis and breaches of international human rights law. Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair: “The ongoing genocide of the Yazidi people is one of the worst crimes of our time. Human rights are global and States are obliged to protect the Yazidis from further killings and sexual enslavement. To date, no State has started investigations with a view to prosecuting those concerned in this genocide and no court has seized jurisdiction. The World can no longer watch this carnage and international law must be implemented.” The COI urges the international community, including the United Nations and its member states, to act on its obligations under the Genocide Convention as a matter of urgency. This must include measures to rescue and save women and children currently in ISIS captivity and hold states and individuals accountable. “Genocide prosecutions are enormously important to deter and delegitimize ISIS atrocities,” says Benshoof. “All captured ISIS fighters should be investigated for genocide crimes, including crimes of rape, abduction, and sexual slavery against Yazidi women and girls. These women and girls deserve justice. Naming the crimes is an important first step, but there must be more. There must be action and prosecutions.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Ed Gillett (London), Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk +44 (0) 7754 197862