ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 59th session (16th June – 9 July 2025)
Annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women: Gender-based violence against women and girls in conflict, post-conflict and humanitarian settings
Speaker: Leon Langdon
Thank you, Mr. President.
Humanists International welcomes this timely discussion. Gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict settings is not incidental, it is systematic. It is rooted in patriarchal norms, often reinforced by religious dogma, and perpetuated with impunity.
Misogyny and skewed notions of masculinity underpin the very nature of conflict,[1] and these are often upheld by religion.[2] The link between religion and conflict, and the ways that women are in turn subjected to gender-based violence, warrants further attention within the human rights framework.
Under these prevailing notions of patriarchy and militarized masculinity, women are seen as legitimate targets within conflict zones when norms appear to be set aside. Rape is employed too often as a weapon of war, against both enemy combatants and the civilian population.[3] The experience of LGBTI+ individuals is also habitually worsened in times of war.[4]
Religious leaders also have an under-acknowledged role to play in conflict and humanitarian settings.[5] They can facilitate engagement with and between armed actors, but we have also seen religious leaders in non-state groups publish manuals justifying sexual slavery and the rape of women and girls.[6] We call on religious leaders to acknowledge their position of influence within conflict and post-conflict settings and to facilitate greater respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, including doing everything in their power to prevent gender-based violence within their communities.
The links between human rights and peace and security need to be further entrenched, for it is during times of conflict that human rights are most likely to be undermined. War can never justify the suspension of human rights, particularly the right to bodily autonomy, and the Council should continue to engage with this issue here, and find synergies with other arms of the UN, to ensure that these issues are high on the agenda everywhere.
Thank you.
[1] Whitworth, S. (2005) ‘Militarized Masculinities and the Politics of Peacekeeping: The Canadian Case’, in Booth, K. (eds.) Critical Studies in World Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 89-106
[2] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/religions/article/2023/03/12/do-religions-legitimize-inequality-between-men-and-women_6019003_63.html
[3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4078677.stm; https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/18/the-women-abandoned-by-peace/
[4] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2022/729412/EPRS_ATA(2022)729412_EN.pdf
[5] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/195405/1/Religious_Leaders_Humanitarian_Norms_Considerations_and_Guidance.pdf
[6] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/195405/1/Religious_Leaders_Humanitarian_Norms_Considerations_and_Guidance.pdf page. 27.
'Gender-based violence in conflict, post-conflict, and humanitarian settings', Humanists International