INTERNATIONAL ENTITIES PROVIDING ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION TO WOMEN AND GIRLS VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE IN ARMED CONFLICTS

Abstract

The article analyzes the legal acts that regulate the activities of international actors providing assistance and protection to women and girls affected by violence in armed conflicts. It is noted that the provisions of the Istanbul Convention recognize the key actors and principles of support and protection, obliging member states to protect women and girls from violence during and after war and to ensure mutual cooperation and coordination in providing support and protection to victims and witnesses of all forms of violence. The said legal act emphasizes such key subjects as: the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, law enforcement agencies, local and regional authorities, non-governmental organizations and other relevant organizations. It was determined that the mechanism of providing assistance and protection to women and girls who suffered from violence during the armed conflict is divided into types depending on the levels of providing such assistance and protection, namely: international, interstate, regional, national, local and individual. International actors play a key role in this mechanism. It is concluded that the existing international mechanism for the protection of the rights of women and girls affected by violence in armed conflicts faces several problems: 1) the lack of high-level leadership committed to the integration of women's rights, including during Security Council negotiations and peace negotiations, therefore effective fulfillment of obligations regarding the integration of women's rights requires political will on the part of politicians and an active public position on the part of different sections of the population; 2) exclusion from projects and programs for conflict prevention and resolution and from post-conflict transition and reconstruction processes; 3) the inadequacy of international judicial practice regarding the prosecution of perpetrators of sexual crimes during armed conflict, therefore it is necessary to create a permanent international criminal court to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence during armed conflict; 4) insufficient representation of women in peacekeeping missions and activities.