The Draft Addendum makes welcome contributions to recognizing a fuller scope of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), acknowledging that “conflict-related gender violence is no longer confined to acts purely sexual in nature” and includes many forms, including physical, moral, psychological and transgenerational forms of violence.

Reproductive autonomy is an individual’s ability to exercise agency over their fertility, including their choice about whether and in what circumstances to reproduce. It is inseparable from human dignity and bodily autonomy, and its violation has profound physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences for affected individuals, families, and communities. Rights related to reproductive autonomy are protected in international and regional human rights instruments.

In this brief, Global Justice Center respectfully urges the Court to: first, recognize forced sterilization as a specific form of reproductive violence with specific characteristics and harms, and requiring particular remedies; and second, consider the mass, State-sponsored character of the harm that underlies this case, in ordering appropriate reparations.

In September 2024, UN Women and Global Justice Center issued a report detailing challenges and offering legal guidance to improve the documentation of reproductive violence in crisis and conflict by UN international investigations. These investigations play a key role in guiding international responses, so omitting documentation of reproductive violence can have devastating ripple effects. This Q&A draws from the report to provide information on what reproductive violence is, why its documentation in conflict and crisis situations matters, and how this documentation can be done more effectively.

Violence against women and girls is pervasive, evolving, and requires an all-tools approach by the Council if it is to be ended. Excluding a gender analysis from efforts to addressing violence against women and girls – an established standard in international law – is legally and substantively insufficient. It risks excluding historically marginalised populations from essential protections, including rights to non-discrimination, bodily autonomy and freedom from torture or other ill-treatment. It undermines efforts to address the root causes perpetuating gender-based violence.

Our coalition recently developed a joint submission to the UN Human Rights Council before the USA’s upcoming 4th Universal Periodic Review. This submission focused on the significant deterioration of sexual and reproductive rights and justice across the country since the elimination of a federal right to abortion and amid a broader undermining of rights in the USA.

Widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law characterized Liberia’s two brutal armed conflicts, which took place between 1989 and 2003. Liberian men, women, and children were gunned down in their homes, marketplaces, and places of worship. In a few cases hundreds of civilians were massacred in a matter of hours. Girls and women were subjected to horrific sexual violence3 including gang rape, sexual slavery, and torture. Children were abducted from their homes and schools and pressed into service, often after witnessing the murder of their parents. The violence blighted the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and displaced almost half the population.

El 13 de febrero de 2025, una jueza argentina, María Romilda Servini de Cubria, dictó órdenes de detención contra 25 funcionarios militares y civiles de Myanmar, entre ellos el comandante en jefe Min Aung Hlaing y el comandante en jefe adjunto Soe Win, por la presunta comisión de genocidio y delitos como asesinato con agravantes, abusos sexuales y tortura contra los rohingya. Es la primera vez que se emiten órdenes de detención públicas en un caso de jurisdicción universal en el que se juzgan crímenes contra los rohingya, lo que representa un paso significativo hacia la justicia.