A/HRC/26/17
E/CN.6/2014/8
27. A mobile phone application, MediCapt, that securely documents, photographs
and transmits forensic evidence of sexual violence to the police, hospitals and the
courts is being piloted by the organization (see also para. 51). Officials from the
medico-legal networks will be trained in the use of the application, which features a
specialized medical uptake form for incidents of sexual violence against men and
women, data mapping and cloud data storage. By harnessing the power of technology
to document violence, the programme will also facilitate early warning and rapid
response systems and assist in investigating and prosecuting sexual violence.
Ultimately, the programme expects to strengthen accountability for such crimes.
28. Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice is another organization that is working
to enhance the capacity of civil society to document sexual violence in conflict and
post-conflict contexts and to support domestic and international accountability
processes. The programme, which is being implemented in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Libya, the Sudan and Uganda, aims to increase women’s participation
in transitional justice mechanisms and to ensure that women’s needs and
perspectives are integrated into peace processes. In the eastern provinces of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the organization is strengthening the capacities
of women’s rights advocates to document sexual violence. In 2013 alone, the
programme documented more than 300 incidents of sexual violence. The
information gathered is being used in the prosecution of crimes of sexual and
gender-based violence and the organization is advocating its use by the International
Criminal Court to support its ongoing investigations.
29. Prosecution is one aspect of achieving justice in conflict, post-conflict and
transitional contexts. Institutional reform and non-judicial processes and mechanisms,
including material and symbolic reparations, are also needed. In Cambodia, the
Trust Fund is supporting the Victims Support Section of the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in its efforts to address gender-based violence
during the Khmer Rouge era. Through dialogue and the sharing and dissemination
of survivors’ testimonies, the Victims Support Section is helping to raise awareness
in communities and encouraging acknowledgement of the extent and impact of
gender-based violence under the Khmer Rouge.
30. An unknown number of women were subjected to gender-based violence,
including forced marriages, between 1975 and 1979. In order to document those
crimes, in 2013 the Victims Support Section created the first online information
platform on gender-based violence under the Khmer Rouge. 13 The platform
disseminates research and data gathered by the Victims Support Section and its
partners and has become a valuable resource for the Government of Cambodia,
researchers and civil society groups worldwide.
31. The Victims Support Section is also fostering dialogue on gender-based crimes
through a series of six national radio programmes, community forums, support
groups and interactive theatre. Through these initiatives, many communities are
learning for the first time about the lasting impact of gender-based violence under
the Khmer Rouge.
32. In 2011 and 2012, in partnership with national and international human rights
organizations, the Victims Support Section co-sponsored two regional women’s
hearings in which survivors from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal and Timor-Leste
__________________
13
8/16
Available from http://gbvkr.org/.
13-61736
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents