Key Findings
- Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Against Men (CRSVAM) is often overlooked for several reasons. There is a data vacuum on CRSVAM due to: a lack of disclosure among survivors; men who disclose are significantly more likely to be overlooked; and narrow definitions of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) do not include common forms of CRSVAM. CRSVAM is also often not recognised in international mechanisms for accountability, and some domestic criminal codes even criminalise sexually violated men. Humanitarian programming often focuses on women and children and excludes men as victims and survivors.
- Parties in peace negotiations rarely address or prioritise CRSV in peace processes, and there has been no significant increase in peace agreements that address Sexual Violence (SV) within the timeframe of peace agreements recorded in the PA-X Peace Agreements Database (PA-X). Only 3% of peace agreements between 1990 and 2024 include references to SV.
- The Juba Agreement (2020) is the only peace agreement recorded in PA-X to consider CRSVAM in its definition of SV. However, the agreement only includes CRSV against women in the definition of the ceasefire, representing a contradiction of who is considered a victim or survivor of CRSV. United Nations (UN) efforts to address SV in the Sudan peace process have likely resulted in internationally bargained provisions for CRSV that lack local ownership and thus effective implementation. However, the agreement might still be of value for the establishment of transitional justice initiatives in the future.
- Men and boys as victims and survivors of CRSV are sidelined in peace agreements. Thirty-two percent of peace agreements with SV provisions in PA-X contain one or more provisions that only address SV against women. Contrasting with the lack of provisions that consider the gendered harms of CRSVAM, this shows how men and boys have been sidelined as victims and survivors of CRSV in peace agreements.
- Peace agreements serve as a unique opportunity to address CRSVAM, its gendered harms and the needs of survivors. It is therefore important that peace agreements incorporate gender-inclusive provisions in defining victims and survivors of CRSV to not reinforce or silence CRSVAM.
- Efforts to address CRSVAM must be holistic and multi-faceted across different levels and stakeholder groups to address the data vacuum on CRSVAM, to develop consistent and inclusive understandings of CRSV in International Criminal Law, to develop gender-transformative humanitarian programming, and to raise awareness and enhance advocacy efforts.
