Cooperation between Civil Society Actors and Judicial Mechanisms in the Prosecution of Conflict Related Sexual Violence: Guiding Principles and Recommendations

Abstract

The mass and wide-spread perpetration of sexual violence is a depressingly common feature of conflict. Sexual violence against women, girls, boys and men can have devastating, long-term physical, psychological and societal consequences for survivors, and may serve to exacerbate ethnic divisions within affected communities, perpetuating cycles of violence and undermining peace-building efforts. Despite this, however, the vast majority of survivors never achieve justice, recognition or assistance in rebuilding their lives. At the same time, impunity for perpetrators threatens to escalate, rather than to diminish the commission of sexual crimes. These Guiding Principles and Recommendations seek to support the investigation and prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence by exploring the potential for effective cooperation between judicial mechanisms, both national and international, and civil society actors. Recognizing that the prosecution of such crimes is not without its challenges, the Guiding Principles and Recommendations focus on the building of cooperative relationships with civil society actors as a significant means of surmounting many of the difficulties faced. However, as the formal processes by which those relationships are developed, informed and governed are in their relative infancy, are inconsistently applied, and in many cases, still emerging, the potential for cooperation to be truly effective is presently hampered. This publication seeks to respond to this problem by offering guidance on cooperation approaches and practices, obtained from experts within the field during two focused workshops, and based upon an extensive literature review. To this end, it (1) identifies examples of best practice in effective cooperation, and (2) highlights specific areas where further work and development is needed to support the prospect for effective cooperation.