Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones

Citation:

Goldstoff, Melissa Goldenberg. 2010. “Note: Security Council Resolution 1820: An Imperfect but Necessary Resolution to Protect Civilians from Rape in War Zones.” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 16 (3): 491–517.

Author: Melissa Goldenberg Goldstoff

Abstract:

On June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council took an important step to further the protection of women during war by unanimously passing Security Council Resolution 1820 ("Resolution 1820" or "the Resolution") which calls for "immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians," including children, and states that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide."This Note argues that despite the overwhelming importance of Resolution 1820 in protecting women raped during wartime conflict, the Resolution is ineffective and potentially detrimental to women's rights because it suffers from inconsistencies and incompleteness.

Topics: Armed Conflict, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, Rights, Women's Rights, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1820, Sexual Violence, Rape

Year: 2010