Date: 04-11-2020Time: 18:00 – 19:30 [GMT+3 Iraq Time], 17:00 – 18:30 [CET], 11:00 – 12:30 [ET]Location: Virtual
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 3: Dealing with Structural Causes and Gender Hierarchies Underlying SGBV: A Comparative Approach
Panelists:
- Brisna Caxaj, Gender Programme Coordinator - Guatemala, Impunity Watch
- TBC, Dr. Ibtisam Aziz, Director General of the Women Empowerment Department of the Council of Ministers, Iraq
- Dr. Ilham Makki, Gender Adviser, Iraqi Al-Amal Association
- Roza Qaidi, Yazidi Activist and Researcher
- Mona Zeineddine, Programmes Manager, Women Now for Development
Moderator: Florence Bateson, Senior Project Officer Iraq, PAX
This roundtable discussion brings together gender experts from Guatemala, Iraq and Syria
to share their experiences on how they have dealt with structural and root causes of
SGBV. They will also discuss how hegemonic or violent masculinities contribute to the
spread of SGBV and why security sector and judicial reforms are essential in the struggle
for justice and the prevention of SGBV.
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.
