“Sometimes we need to name the abnormal as abnormal, and take action to defend what is normal!” - Shereen Essof. Jessica Horn reports at the close of the Nobel Women's Initiative conference, 'Women Forging a New Security: ending sexual violence in conflict'
"As an 18 year old woman I wanted to join what I saw as the coolest and toughest force - not the Air Force, not the Navy, but the Army. I was the first woman to join, and arrived full of ideas of what life would be like as a woman in the army. Things were not as I had imagined at all...."
Decades of feminist activism against rape has produced a world that now, formally, officially, and legally, at least talks the talk on sexual violence in conflict. Feminists have not yet been able to transform what Susan Brownmiller called the ‘ideology of rape’, but they’re working on it.
"Violence can be prevented. This is not an article of faith, but a statement based on evidence" (WHO 2002). Scilla Elworthy calls for a strategy based on the clear evidence of what is working in scattered pockets around the world, with the creation of 'Infrastructures for Peace' at its core.
“We have included the Arab Spring in this prize, but we have put it in a particular context. Namely, if one fails to include the women in the revolution and the new democracies, there will be no democracy.” Thorbjoern Jagland, chair of the Nobel Prize Committee
If some of us had hoped to walk away with a global plan of action rather than a series of personal commitments stuck up on a board, well, we just may have forgotten that it's personal commitment that makes brave women stand up every day - Jenny Morgan reports from the closing session of the Nobel
Women Peace Laureates urge leaders to protect women in armed conflict, citing evidence from a new report.
In recent weeks, one word has dominated the headlines: rape. The events worldwide have shown how rape remains in the bloodstream of our culture, while our language on the crime is distorting and debased
How many rapes are too many in war? Of course, one violent sexual attack on a woman is one too many. A single incident could be a war crime....
'The word "reconciliation" hurts me', Bakira Hasecic says. 'All I want is for those who have hurt me to be brought to justice.'
Survivors of gender based violence and their supporters can deliver powerful messages for peace, reflects Betsy Kawamura.
