Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Through Multilateral Sanctions

The UN Security Council displays a troubling lack of action concerning reports of systematic conflict-related sexual violence. One of its worst failures is its disregard of the Myanmar military’s pattern of brutality and violence, both before and after the military’s coup d’état in February 2021.

The Tatmadaw is responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence in Myanmar including 82 percent of all gang rapes in the country. Their use of sexual violence likely amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The international community’s lack of action has contributed to a culture of impunity that fuels ongoing Tatmadaw abuses and the concerted use of sexual violence.

This report draws on the case of Myanmar to demonstrate that multilateral, coordinated sanctions are an important but underused tool in responding to conflict-related sexual violence.

Read the report: Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Through Multilateral Sanctions

Policy Implications

Rape as a tool of war is a growing problem from Ethiopia to Myanmar to Ukraine. There needs to be greater accountability for impunity for conflict-related sexual violence. Policy Brief

We discuss potential actions to improve accountability and reduce impunity for conflict-related sexual violence in Myanmar and beyond, including five key recommendations:

Following the model of designation for the recruitment of child soldiers, the UN should systematically incorporate conflict-related sexual violence as a stand-alone criterion when adopting new sanctions regimes.
The UN sanctions committee should adopt a thematic sanction regime for conflict-related sexual violence that is automatically triggered when the UN Secretary-General report on sexual violence in armed conflict lists an individual or entity for consecutive years.
The US government should use the Global Magnitsky Act to impose targeted sanctions on any individual or entity listed in consecutive years in the UN Secretary-General report on sexual violence in armed conflict.
As Member States revise their National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security, they should integrate targeted sanctions for repeat perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence, as identified in the UN Secretary-General’s report on sexual violence in armed conflict.
The US, Canada, UK, and EU should strengthen their coordination efforts to ensure that targeted sanctions are part of a coherent global strategy for improving accountability and reducing impunity for conflict-related sexual violence.

We explore actions to improve accountability and reduce impunity for conflict-related sexual violence.

Dr. Robert U. Naegel Postdoctoral Fellow

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Authors

Dr. Robert U. Nagel, Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Ms. Julia Maenza, Research Assistant, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Mr. Daniel Salazar, Research Assistant, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Ms. Aminah Mohamad Yusuf, Research Assistant, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Ms. Diamond Jones, Research Assistant, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the activists and members of civil society organizations for their continued commitment and work for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. This report is dedicated to them in the hope that we can shine a spotlight on the ongoing crises in Myanmar and contribute to policies that will support their efforts. We would like to thank our interview partners in civil society, non-governmental, and international organizations for their time and participation in this project. We also want to thank our interview partners that serve or have served in various government roles. Special thanks to Elisabeth Olivius, Angelina Mendes, and Rebecca Haines for their service as external reviewers. We are grateful to Melanne Verveer, Jessica Smith, and Jenny Hedström for their support and feedback during the project. We also want to acknowledge Kerry O’Donnell for her research support. The authors would like to thank Global Affairs Canada for its financial support, without which this work would not have been possible.