Dealing with Sexual and Gender-Based Violations in Iraq: A Gender-Transformative Approach to Justice
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution
1325 on Women, Peace and Security, Impunity Watch, Iraqi Al-Amal Association and PAX
has the pleasure to invite you to a series of three virtual roundtable discussions on sexual
and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Iraq, justice efforts to address SGBV, and lessons
learned in other contexts.
This series of online roundtable discussions is part of a joint project of the three
organisations to contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of effective
transformative strategies to address SGBV in Iraq. Please see the details below of each
your email address as you will receive a zoom invitation before the event.
Virtual Roundtable 1: SGBV Mapping Report Launch and Discussion on How to Move Forward
During this event, Dr. Ilham Makki from Iraqi Al-Amal Association will present the main
findings and recommendations of the mapping report which highlights root causes and
patterns of SGBV in Iraq (2003- 2018). The presentation will be followed by a roundtable
policymakers on how the report recommendations can contribute to policy change in Iraq.
Background
Since 2003, most accountability and redress efforts in Iraq have been led by Iraqi
government authorities, with the support of the United States in the post-2003 years, and
more recently in the post-ISIS era, the UN and several western countries. The approach has
tended to be top-down, often politicized and open to corruption, leaving very little space for
civic engagement and the participation of victims in any justice and accountability process.
Iraqi women, who faced sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) over the course of many
years of political instability, were by and large excluded from post-conflict efforts aimed at
dealing with past human rights violations. In fact, few if any government-led efforts have
adequately addressed the impact of gender-based violence and human rights violations on
women or shed light on the kinds of abuse they faced. As a result, the abuses experienced
by women have remained largely invisible to the public, which in turn has impeded the
emergence of a common narrative regarding Iraqi women’s long history of abuse and
violence.
Moreover, while sexual and gender-based violations in Iraq have been documented by
national and international organizations, very rarely have the root causes and patterns of
such abuses been systematically researched, understood and exposed. The lack of such
extensive research on this topic has also led to a lack of understanding regarding the links
between SGBV in Iraq and the exclusion of women from different public spheres as well as
from peace building, accountability and reconstruction measures. To address this gap,
Impunity Watch, Iraqi Al-Amal Association and PAX have engaged in a joint project funded
by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at increasing the understanding and
awareness of root causes and patterns of SGBV in Iraq and subsequently developing,
implementing and evaluating effective transformative strategies to address impunity for
SGBV.
