Social Science Research Council

Sexual Violence and Exploitation in Conflict Situations: On behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the SSRC organized and hosted a Technical Consultation on Sexual Violence and Exploitation (SVE) in Conflict Situations on December 15-16, 2005. This meeting formed a part of broader UN interagency discussions to expand and accelerate global efforts to reduce sexual violence in situations of armed conflict. Participants forged links between disciplines and discussed the potential for creating a practically applicable, standardized service for the assessment, monitoring and reporting of sexual violence and exploitation in conflict situations. Despite substantial work on aspects of sexual- and gender-based violence monitoring and assessment, there currently exists no agreed-upon method to be used on a routine, systematic basis for the generation of rapid data and analysis to inform effective response strategies and reduction interventions in conflict situations. The meeting brought together a diversity of expertise and perspectives on SVE surveillance and broke new ground in thinking about more systematic ways to measure and respond to the enormous challenges of sexual violence in conflict situations.