Talk of shame: Conflict-related sexual violence and bilateral critique within the United Nations

Abstract

Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is an increasingly consequential crime to perpetrate – at least if we limit our view to reactions within multilateral institutions such as the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Turning to the state-led forum for human rights: the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), this study instead uncovers sparse and highly selective condemnation of CRSV. By extracting data on all bilateral shaming relating to sexual violence in the UPR since its inception in 2008, this article demonstrates that only 5% of all governments take the opportunity to condemn major sexual aggressors. The findings should adjust our expectations on the progress rate within the policy field of CRSV and advance our understanding of the challenges tainting international negotiations on the topic.