and Girls Victims of Sexual Violence (2007); Resolution 260: on Involuntary Sterilization and the Protection
of Human Rights in Access to HIV Services (2013); Resolution 275: on Protection against Violence and other
Human Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender
Identity (2014); Resolution 281: on the Right to Peaceful Demonstrations (2014); Resolution 283: on the
Situation of Women and Children in Armed Conflict; Resolution 292: on the Need to Conduct a Study
on Child Marriage in Africa (2014)). It also adopted resolutions condemning sexual violence committed in
specific situations and countries (Resolutions 93 and 74 (2005) and 68 (2004) on Darfur (Sudan); Resolution
103: on the Situation of Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2006); Resolution 173: on the
Crimes committed against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2010); Resolution 284: on the
Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2014); Resolution
288: Condemning the Perpetrators of Sexual Assault and Violence in the Arab Republic of Egypt (2014)).
1. 4. The importance of combating sexual violence and its consequences is also underscored in other regional
texts, such as the African Platform for Action Adopted by the Fifth Regional Conference on Women, held
at Dakar from 16 to 23 November 1994; the Declaration of the South African Development Community
(SADC) on Gender and Development (1997) and its Addendum on the Prevention and Eradication of
Violence against Women and Children (1998); the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA)
(African Union, 2004); the Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women
and Children of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR, 2006); the Continental
Policy Framework for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights created by the Commission of the African
Union (2006) and its Plan of Action for the 2007-2010 period and for 2010-2015; the SADC Protocol on
Gender and Development (2008); the Kampala Declaration of the Heads of State and Government of the
Member States of the ICGRL on the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (ICGRL, 2011); the
Kigali International Conference Declarations initiated by African security organisations in support of the UN
Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign (2008-2015).
1. 5. These Guidelines are also based on a variety of judicial or quasi-judicial decisions and recommendations
promoting the rights of victims of sexual violence, in particular recommendations of the Commission (see
explanatory notes below).
Explanatory Notes: ACHPR Communication 323/06, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and INTERIGHTS vs. Egypt
(2011); ACHPR, Communication 341/2007, Equality Now and Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) v. Federal
Republic of Ethiopia (2015); CEDAW Committee, Vertido vs. the Philippines, CEDAW/C/46/D/18/2008 (2010).
2. International framework
2. 1. The fight against sexual violence and its consequences is also governed by various international human
rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), which in particular protects the right to health
(Article 12), including sexual and reproductive health, pursuant to the interpretation provided by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 22 (E/C.12/GC/22, 2016);
the OHCHR Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(1994); the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which protects children against all forms of violence,
including sexual violence, according to the interpretation provided by the Committee on the Rights of the
Child in its General Comment No. 13 (CRC/C/GC/13, 2011); and its Optional Protocols on the Involvement
of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) and on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
(2000). The Geneva Convention governs the prevention of and fight against sexual violence committed
during armed conflicts (fourth Geneva Convention (1949) and its Additional Protocols I and II (1977)).
GUIDELINES ON COMBATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA
13