On International Women’s Day 2022, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice joins Global Rights Compliance in expressing concern for the real possibility that sexual and gender-based violence (‘SGBV’) will occur within the context of Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine and the continuing conflict and refugee crisis. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, instances of SGBV have been recorded by human rights activists, and the number is likely to increase. GRC and WIGJ urge the international community to centre the voices of women and girls in their response to the current crisis; ensure the recognition and contemporaneous documentation of all types of SGBV in line with international best practices on the collection of evidence; and pursue all available avenues for accountability of such crimes.

Read the full statement here.