Sexual Violence in African Conflicts

The document presents results from a pilot study of 177 armed conflict actors in 20 African countries. It finds that sexual violence is often indiscriminate, frequently committed by state armies, and can persist in post-conflict periods or years with low killing rates. The study emphasizes that sexual violence is not an inevitable part of war, as many actors do not engage in it, and recommends improved reporting mechanisms and targeted interventions to reduce its occurrence.

• Sexual violence often occurs during periods of low military activity or in post-conflict phases; in the first five years after battle deaths end, sexual violence was reported by one-third of rebel groups and militias and one-quarter of state armies.
• The forms of sexual violence extend beyond rape to include gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual torture, sexual mutilation, forced marriage, and forced pregnancy, as well as 'sexual violence by proxy' where victims are forced to rape others.
• Sexual violence by proxy was specifically reported in five conflicts: Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the DRC, and Uganda.

APA

Nordås, R. (2011). Sexual Violence in African Conflicts. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ed4b773b-5ef0-4aa4-9223-2a0bcf661b79/SVAC-CSCW-Policy-Brief-01-2011.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Nordås, Ragnhild. Sexual Violence in African Conflicts. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2011. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ed4b773b-5ef0-4aa4-9223-2a0bcf661b79/SVAC-CSCW-Policy-Brief-01-2011.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nordås |first1=Ragnhild |title=Sexual Violence in African Conflicts |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2011 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ed4b773b-5ef0-4aa4-9223-2a0bcf661b79/SVAC-CSCW-Policy-Brief-01-2011.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nords2011sexual, author = {Nordås, Ragnhild}, title = {{Sexual Violence in African Conflicts}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2011}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ed4b773b-5ef0-4aa4-9223-2a0bcf661b79/SVAC-CSCW-Policy-Brief-01-2011.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }