Introduction

The issue of violence against women is gaining in prominence on the United Nations' human rights agenda, and has emerged as a policy priority. The former UN Secretary-General produced a comprehensive report on the issue in late 2006, the General Assembly agreed a declaration in 2007, and many NGOs and UN agencies have taken up the issue in a variety of contexts. Current UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon has added his commitment to ending violence against women, announcing in 2008 a multi-year campaign. The Security Council issued its first resolution on women, peace, and security in 2000, with a follow-up resolution in 2008, and a specific resolution on sexual violence in armed conflict in 2009. Significant work has been done in particular under international humanitarian law and international criminal law, albeit still with many problems. This commitment to ending violence against women in armed conflict has yet to be matched, however, by commitments to international human rights law and to violations of women's rights in peacetime, the one being a precursor to the other. That is to say that negative views held about women do not emerge in times of armed conflict; rather they are exploited and manipulated for instrumental objectives during armed conflict.

The burning final question that this book addresses is how the work of the UN human rights treaty body system can be improved.