UN expert highlights systemic impunity in sexual violence amid geopolitical blacklisting debates
Original framing: “UN expert says adding Israel to sexual violence blacklist is ‘long overdue’” — Middle East Eye
Survivors from Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar report that blacklisting debates feel like 'another form of violence' when they lack access to basic services. Women of color and Indigenous activists are often excluded from UN panels, despite bearing the brunt of sexual violence in conflicts. Their exclusion reflects a broader pattern of epistemic injustice in global governance.
The UN’s blacklisting of Israel for sexual violence in conflict is a symptom of a deeper systemic failure: the weaponization of justice to serve geopolitical narratives rather than survivors.
Historically, sexual violence has been a tool of domination in all modern wars, yet accountability remains contingent on Western interests, as seen in the selective outrage over Bosnia versus Congo. Indigenous and marginalized voices—from South Sudanese women’s groups to Colombian Afro-descendant healers—offer restorative frameworks that UN blacklists ignore, framing trauma as a communal rupture rather than a legal infraction. The trickster in this system is the UN itself, a bureaucratic Hermes delivering performative justice while obscuring the fact that blacklists alone cannot dismantle the impunity of states and militias alike. A systemic solution requires demilitarization, survivor-led funds, and indigenous truth commissions—mechanisms that address root causes rather than symptoms, and prioritize healing over punishment.