The Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) Prosecution Network
The CRSV Prosecution Network is a new global initiative designed to support national authorities in their efforts to investigate and prosecute CRSV. Established by the United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Team of Experts), the CRSV Prosecution Network responds to requests from Member States and practitioners for specialised, practical, and context-specific support.
The CRSV Prosecution Network creates a structured, practitioner-driven community to accelerate engagement, rapid knowledge exchange, and practical survivor-centred approaches to accountability for CRSV. It is designed for criminal justice practitioners, especially prosecutors and litigators, currently engaged in and/or who have made significant contributions to the investigation and prosecution of CRSV crimes before national courts.
The theory of change underlying the CRSV Prosecution Network is that making specialised knowledge, practical tools, and peer-to-peer experience widely available globally for any national jurisdiction in need, coupled with creating a collegial support network of like-minded and specialised practitioners, will equip prosecutors and investigators to pursue CRSV cases in their respective jurisdictions, accelerate the rate of prosecutions in accordance with due process of law and enable access to justice for survivors.
The CRSV Prosecution Network contains two central pillars:
The Practice Centre – a publicly available, comprehensive online resource designed to support national justice actors, national responses to CRSV, promote coherence, and expand access to specialised information.
The Knowledge Exchange Community – a membership-based network for prosecutors, investigators and relevant judicial practitioners who are actively working on the investigation and prosecution of CRSV cases in their national or international jurisdiction.
The Team of Experts
The United Nations Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Team of Experts) was established by Security Council resolution 1888 (2009) to assist national authorities in strengthening the rule of law, with the aim of ensuring accountability, including criminal accountability, for perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The UN Team of Experts is the only dedicated Security Council mandated mechanism to provide this type of support on a global basis.
The UN Team of Experts is based at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It operates with the consent and cooperation of host governments, with the aim of fostering national ownership and responsibility in addressing CRSV. The UN Team of Experts employs a survivor-centred approach, recognising that victims of CRSV include women and girls as well as men and boys, and that many survivors face stigmatisation within their families and communities.
The UN Team of Experts has a unique “co-lead” structure that currently includes members from several United Nations entities to enable the United Nations to deliver as one in assisting Member States to address CRSV. The UN Team of Experts operates under the strategic leadership of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), and currently comprises experts from the Department of Peace Operations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the SRSG-SVC, and the United Nations Development Programme .
For more information about the UN Team of Experts’ recent work, read the 2024 annual report.
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat that supports the SRSG-SVC. The SRSG-SVC serves as the United Nations’ spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The SRSG-SVC chairs the United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict network and the SRSG-SVC’s work is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict. In April 2017, the United Nations Secretary-General appointed Ms. Pramila Patten of Mauritius as the SRSG-SVC.
The Office of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council resolution 1888 (2009), one in a series of resolutions that recognised the detrimental impact that CRSV has on communities and acknowledged that this crime undermines efforts to ensure peace and security and rebuild societies once a conflict has ended.
CRSV Prosecution Network Liaisons and Advisory Board Members
The following individuals help manage the CRSV Prosecution Network from the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Team of Experts):
The following specialist CRSV practitioners and academics provide advice and support to the CRSV Prosecution Network through the Advisory Board:
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about the CRSV Prosecution Network and the Practice Centre Website
Supporters of the CRSV Prosecution Network
The CRSV Prosecution Network and CRSV Jurisprudence Database is supported by the following United Nations entities:
The following Member States have generously donated to the CRSV Prosecution Network directly or through core funds to the UN Team of Experts:
The CRSV Prosecution Network, the 2024 international conference for prosecutors on accountability for CRSV, and the 2026 Launch of the CRSV Prosecution Network have been co-sponsored and supported by the following Member States:
