How to provide justice for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has now become a highly visible and challenging global problem with few solutions. Building on the work of the four-year ERC-funded project, The Gender of Justice: Prosecuting Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict (Project No. 313626), the TRANSFORM proof of concept aimed to address three key practice gaps in justice sector responses to CRSV. The first gap is the lack of integrated policy frameworks and methodology. The second gap is the focus on individual victims and violations. The third gap is the need for pattern analysis and gender analysis of CRSV and justice responses to these crimes.
The TRANSFORM project addresses these gaps by creating a prototype Gender Justice Policy Framework. This Framework is an integrated package of guiding principles, methodology, and tools, which provide a gender analysis of criminal and civil justice responses to CRSV. The Framework offers an operational structure for developing policy and practice in this sector. It shows how to build a gender analysis of affected groups, justice responses, and justice strategies.
The purpose of the Gender Justice Policy Framework is to provide an integrated approach to policy and practice responses to CRSV in conflict and post-conflict settings. It also offers a set of policy and practice components that can be used separately, depending on the specific needs of practitioners. The Framework provides an operational structure that integrates guiding principles, methodology and tools for:
1. gender analysis of patterns of CRSV,
2. gender analysis of patterns of criminal and civil justice responses to these crimes, and
3. identification of impunity and justice gaps in criminal and civil justice for CRSV.
The Gender Justice Policy Framework offers strategic data analysis and policy action for justice for CRSV. It will be useful for policy-makers and practitioners who need to map patterns of CRSV and affected groups, assess the adequacy of criminal and social justice responses, and generate new justice strategies, and who seek to build more equitable criminal and civil justice responses to CRSV. The Framework is designed for use by practitioners seeking to strengthen criminal and civil accountability for CRSV. This includes those working in NGOs and civil society organisations, and national and international authorities in the areas of human rights investigation, civil remedies or criminal prosecutions, and advocacy or policy development.
The prototype Framework was developed by a multi-disciplinary international team using a participatory proof of concept methodology, involving desk review of existing policies, expert group meetings, and participatory testing with leading NGO, IGO, and expert practitioners in the CRSV field.
The prototype sets out the methodology and components of the Framework, together with indicative guidelines and tools. The prototype includes:
1. Gender Justice Framework Guiding Principles,
2. The Gender Justice Policy Framework User’s Guide,
3. CRSV Lexicon,
4. Data Source, Collection, and Analysis formats with defined fields,
5. Coding framework (NVIVO), and
6. Quantitative framework (Excel and Smart Survey).
The prototype Framework is available to potential users. The Framework and its components are designed to be adapted to specific conflict and institutional contexts. The TRANSFORM team will support practitioners and organisations in building targeted guidelines, tools, training, and implementation strategies that address their specific needs. For further information, please contact the lead investigator, Dr Kirsten Campbell, Goldsmiths College,
k.campbell@gold.ac.uk.
