The fallout of rape as a weapon of war

Nicola Jones, Janice Cooper, Elizabeth Presler-Marshall and David Walker (June 2014) ODI Report (London)

Rape and sexual assault have persisted in the post-conflict era in Liberia; the country has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of sexual violence cases; targets are largely adolescent girls, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims.

This short paper provides an overview of emerging research findings on the patterns and consequences of sexual violence in post-conflict settings, and highlights the complexities involved in tackling this problem. It draws on recent research with adolescent girls and boys, adults and programme implementers in urban and rural communities in Liberia and highlights six key areas for donors and national governments attention, illustrated by examples of promising practice.

You can download the paper here.

This paper is an output of ReBUILD’s Affiliate research partners, the Overseas Development Institute, and their project: Psychosocial support and service provision for adolescent girls in post-conflict settings.