Policy/media

One way I engage with policy is through the publication of policy briefs and blogs/op eds. 

Below is a summary of some recent policy briefs and op eds. 

 

Why the Nobel Peace Prize went to 2 people fighting sexual violence in war. Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, October 8, 2018.  (with Elisabeth Wood) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/10/08/why-the-nobel-peace-prize-went-to-2-people-fighting-against-sexual-violence-in-war/?utm_term=.61d1633e664e 

Continued Failure to End Wartime Sexual Violence. PRIO Policy Brief. October 6. 2018    (With Robert Nagel). https://www.prio.org/utility/DownloadFile.ashx?id=1655&type=publicationfile

Social Inclusion of Survivors of Sexual Violence: How Do Support Programs Work?, PRIO Paper. 2016 Oslo: PRIO. December. (with Gudrun Østby; Siri Aas Rustad; Christine Amisi; Rosalie Biaba; John Quattrochi; Susanne Alldén & Aline Cikara) https://www.prio.org/Publications/Publication/?x=9286

 

 “The Time Has Come for Dr. Denis Mukwege to Win the Nobel Peace Prize” (with Gudrun Østby) 2015 Blog post: http://blogs.prio.org/2015/10/the-time-has-come-for-dr-denis-mukwege-to-win-the-nobel-peace-prize/

9 June 2014. Op ed in Washington Post (with Dara Cohen and Elisabeth Wood):

Four things everyone should know about wartime sexual violence

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/09/four-things-everyone-should-know-about-wartime-sexual-violence/

9 June 2014. Op ed in Washington Post (with Dara Cohen and Elisabeth Wood):

As the systematic study of rape and other forms of sexual violence continues to progress, it is our hope that our research, together with that by other scholars, will aid policymakers and activists in combating this terrible scourge of war. In this piece, we report on some of the important, and policy-relevant, patterns we find in our research:

 1. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are reported in many conflicts and by many armed groups — but not all.

 2. State militaries are more likely to be reported as perpetrators of sexual violence than either rebel groups or pro-government militias.

3.  Rape need not be directly ordered to occur on a massive scale.

4. Sexual violence by armed groups can continue to be reported into the “post-conflict” period, sometimes at very high levels.

Preventing Conflict-related Sexual Violence (January 2013)Most policies on conflict-related sexual violence have focused on helping the survivors of such abuse. However, we also need to focus on prevention: how to stop sexual violence from occurring in the first place. The fact that many armed groups manage to effectively prohibit sexual violence shows that pre-vention is possible. Several routes to prevention are outlined here:Changing norms – including changing how survivors are perceived and treated in their communities;

Creating safer spaces – including improving infrastructure and reporting practices;

Improving reporting – including protection of witnesses;

Ending impunity – substantially increasing the likelihood that crimes of sexual violence will be punished;

Assuring accountability – strengthening commander responsibility for acts committed by troops; and

Mitigating sexual violence after war – including more systematic and inte-gration of sexual violence prevention in DDR processes and security sector reform.

Find this Policy Breif here.