SVAC_policy_brief_Sexual Violence in African Conflicts1.pdf
Research contributions by HHH students Logan Dumaine, Katie Heaney, Brooke Krause, and Bridget Marchesi.
This policy brief summarizes key findings from a pilot study of conflict related sexual violence in conflicts in 20 African countries, encompassing 177 armed conflict actors - state armies, militias, and rebel groups.
The study finds that, in Africa, sexual violence is:
Mostly indiscriminate
Committed only by some conflict actors
Often committed by state armies
Often committed in years with low levels of killings
Often committed post-conflict
The present study forms part of a larger research initiative on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict (SVAC). The aim of the SVAC project is to collect data that may be used to facilitate the prevention of sexual violence. To achieve this goal, the SVAC research group recommends: (a) that the pilot presented here be extended to the global level, (b) that future research focus
on the location and timing of sexual violence; and (c) that increasing attention be paid towards policies of preventing sexual violence in conflict as well as post conflict situations.
