By Jess Keller

The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security released a new report today on the widespread use of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and its devastating impacts on individuals and communities, which can last generations and undermine peace and security efforts.

Sexual violence is used as a weapon of war by combatants in conflict situations worldwide, decimating societies and fueling displacement. It remains a silent crime, with an estimated 80 percent of cases in conflict settings going unreported.

This fall, GIWPS convened leaders from Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Colombia to share lessons learned for responding to the global scourge of CRSV. Drawing on their insights, this report presents actionable policy recommendations for key stakeholders to hold perpetrators accountable, meet survivor needs, and follow through on their commitments to deliver justice. The report, authored by Jess Keller, was made possible with support from the Embassy of Germany in Washington, D.C.

Key Recommendations

“Pathways to Justice and Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Lessons Learned and Policy Recommendations from the Frontlines” outlines detailed actions for the international community to hold perpetrators of CRSV accountable and meet survivors’ needs. Recommendations include:

Provide urgent survivor-centered medical and psychosocial services that include health care, legal assistance, and psychosocial support and address intersectional needs.

Co-create evidence-collection and documentation processes with survivors; prioritize data security and confidentiality; and train health workers, community leaders, police officers, judges, prosecutors, and qualified psychologists to minimize the risk of re-traumatization.

Challenge shame and transform stigma by amplifying survivor voices and leveraging community leadership.

Pursue criminal justice and accountability by strengthening national and subnational justice mechanisms, granting legal recognition to survivors, and utilizing sanctions to clearly and publicly condemn perpetrators and enablers.

Prioritize interim and comprehensive reparations to provide support, recognition, and compensation to survivors that address both immediate needs and post-conflict recovery.

Washington, DC: Georgetown University, Institute for Women, Peace and Security , 2024. 20p.

By Xiaohong Wang, Daniel Jones, Jiangnan Zeng

We draw on statewide data from North Carolina to examine the impacts of racial and ethnic representation in city councils on policing. Specifically, we focus on out- comes of traffic stops; e.g., whether a driver receives a warning or a citation after being stopped. We first document large Black-white and Latino-white disparities in the like- lihood of consequence (arrest or citation) after a traffic stop. We then use a difference- in-differences design, focusing on changes following (narrow) elections of nonwhite (rather than white) councilmembers, and find that increased nonwhite council representation significantly reduces Black-white gaps in stops and actions taken after a stop. The magnitude of the reduction is similar with and without officer fixed effects, suggesting that results are largely driven by individual officer-level behavior change rather than a change in the composition of the police force.

Unpublished paper, 2024. 

By Matthew A. Graham

This paper provides an overview of racial disparities in the multiple decisions police officers make when interacting with the public during vehicle stops. More specifically, the white paper maps how racial disparities during traffic stops increase the risks of harm for Black drivers at subsequent decision points throughout the encounter and that these traffic stops serve no public safety or crime reduction purpose.

West Hollywood, CA: Center for Police Equity, 2024. 22p.