CSIS – as part of their Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative – hosted a roundtable discussion with GIWPS on the topic of conflict-related sexual violence. GIWPS law fellow Sophie Huvé and Naz Durakoglu, foreign policy advisor to Senator Jeanne Shaheen, discussed strategies the United Nations Security Council and the United States government can utilize to prevent sexual violence in conflict and coerce perpetrators to change their behavior. Sophie Huvé discussed her GIWPS research, the first review of how the UN Security Council has used targeted sanctions to address sexual violence in conflict to date. Huvé’s study of eight sanctions regimes reveals the current approach is characterized by inconsistency across sanctions regimes, delayed focus on sexual violence, and weak implementation of sanctions. Naz Durakoglu spoke about USG approaches to addressing violence against women in conflict, a topic on which Senator Jean Shaheen plays a leadership role. Durakoglu referenced the Global Magnitsky Act, the WPS Act, and the International Violence Against Women Act. The roundtable was attended by representatives from DoD, USIP, the State Department, Congressional offices, and DC-based NGOs.
Photo credit: CSIS