Investigating Sexual and Gender-based Violence

Since 2009, Justice Rapid Response and UN Women have partnered to provide the international community with expertise to investigate and prosecute sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The goal of the partnership is to end impunity for these crimes, ultimately preventing their re-occurrence. The training and deployment of SGBV experts through the JRR-UN Women partnership has catalyzed the ability of international and national mechanisms to secure accountability for these crimes.

In 2017, we released the short documentary Evidence of Hope, which features two sexual violence investigators on the Justice Rapid Response-UN Women SGBV Justice Experts Roster who were deployed to the UN’s investigations in Syria and Iraq, and four survivor/witnesses they met during their work. Filmed in Germany, Turkey and the United States, the film goes behind the scenes into how investigators approach the challenge of finding victims of SGBV, collecting evidence, and building a case, while always prioritizing the well-being of survivors.