Theme: "Breaking the Cycle, Healing the Scars: Addressing the Intergenerational Effects of CRSV"
On this occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Refugee Law Project (RLP) joins the global community in remembrance, renewed advocacy, and collective condemnation of the persistent use of sexual violence as a tool for executing war. Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) including but not limited to rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced sterilization, and abduction for sexual exploitation continue to create deep lasting personal and intergenerational wounds and scars in the bodies, minds, and future of CRSV survivors across the world.
Uganda, as Africa’s leading refugee-hosting country with nearly 1.9 million refugees, bears daily witness to the devastating realities of CRSV endured by displaced persons fleeing conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, and beyond that are marked by experiences and expressions of gross forms of sexual violence. These violations affect women and girls, men and boys, the young and the old alike with consequences that stretch far beyond the end of active hostilities. Where CSRV is used as a tactic of war and torture, it not only affects individuals; it also infiltrates their homes, fractures families, and destabilizes entire communities leading to permanent intergenerational impacts.
While women and girls remain the most widely recognized survivors of sexual violence in conflict due to higher levels of disclosure, it is critical to acknowledge that men and boys are also victims of CRSV. Their suffering is often rendered invisible by cultural taboos, religious stigma, and deeply entrenched and encumbering gender norms. These barriers suppress disclosure, hinder access to justice and essential services-seeking behaviours, and intensify the psychological and social agony and sufferings for male survivors. The compounded trauma frequently manifests in family breakdown, identity confusion and loss, emotional distress, and the perpetuation of intergenerational cycles of pain, trauma and marginalization. Survivors often remain silent due to societal stigma, shame, and the profound trauma experienced by both themselves and their families who frequently are secondary victims. The lack of a safe and supportive environment plus the targeted destruction of health facilities in some of the conflict situations further hinders survivors’ ability to seek justice and support services.
RLP has remained steadfast in its mission to work closely with survivors and their families to meet their medical, psychosocial, legal, and community recovery and reintegration needs. Through our specialized services, we provide safe spaces for disclosure, healing, peer-support, and empowerment. We also recognize the unique vulnerabilities of children born of rape, who often face stigma, nonbelonging, and marginalization with little structural support or visibility.
Founded in November 1999, the Refugee Law Project was established with the goal of protecting and promoting the rights of forced migrants and vulnerable communities in Uganda. Operating as a community outreach project of the School of Law at Makerere University, RLP works to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees are treated with fairness and dignity, and that their human rights are upheld in accordance with both national and international legal frameworks.
As part of our ongoing commitment to breaking the cycles and healing the scars of CRSV, RLP continues to champion transformative models and best practices tailored to the complex experiences and realities faced by survivors of sexual violence in conflict. Refugee Law Project’s Screen-Refer-Support-Document (SRSD) model facilitates the safe and confidential disclosure of war-related harms, laying the foundations for effective, survivor-centered interventions. The Refugee Law Project complements its screening with a multi-survivor programming which it developed through years of engagement with both direct survivors and secondary victims, which continues to inform inclusive and holistic healing approaches. The approaches of the Refugee Law Project underscore a critical insight: with timely assessments, robust referral pathways, and comprehensive support, refugee survivors and their families can heal, regain functionality, and reclaim dignified, self-directed lives. However, there is still so much catching up to be done in terms of work with survivors of sexual violence that has already happened and never been identified or addressed. The impacts of sexual violence, though often not easily visible, affect agency of individuals and families in a long-lasting and cross generations ways.
The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict holds profound meaning for RLP. Embedded deeply in both refugee settlements and urban Kampala, RLP stands in unwavering solidarity with sexual violence survivors and their families and communities, acknowledging the enduring scars of trauma they endure and carry across generations. This day serves as a powerful call to break the silence, tackle stigma, and address systemic neglect or non-acknowledgement. RLP remains committed to survivor-led healing that is grounded in evidence-based approaches like SRSD and multi-survivor programming, and reminds all actors in the international humanitarian and development sector of the urgent need to invest in the immediate and long-term recovery and rehabilitation of affected individuals and communities for sustainable peace.
Over the past 26 years, RLP has been at the forefront of addressing CRSV in rural Refugee Settlements in Kiryandongo, Nakivale, Palabek, Maaji (I, II, &III), Kampala (Urban refugees), Northern Uganda (Pader, Gulu, Kitgum) and beyond.
Notably, RLP is among the first organizations globally to systematically document the experiences of men and boy survivors of CRSV, alongside women and girls. Survivor testimonies collected from multiple countries have not only broadened global understanding of sexual violence in conflict but also challenged long-standing taboos and reshaped intervention articulation and approaches.
Through the screening of 25,030 refugees and asylum seekers in urban Kampala, and Refugee Settlements of Nakivale in Isingiro district, Lamwo, Adjumani and Kiryandongo RLP was able to establish that 33% of assessed clients had experienced different forms CRSV. Of these, 67% received medical and psychosocial support that had previously been gone unnoticed and got overlooked by mainstream humanitarian actors. RLP consider its efforts as pivotal in disrupting intergenerational cycles of trauma and restoring dignity and stability to affected individuals, households and communities.
As we commemorate this important day under the theme “Breaking the Cycle, Healing the Scars: Addressing the Intergenerational Effects of CRSV,” we call for inclusive, survivor-centered responses and urgent investments in prevention, protection, and long-term healing. Ending sexual violence in conflict is not only a matter of justice it is a prerequisite for sustainable peace, dignity, and human security for all.