S/2017/249 56. The pattern of forced marriage of women and girls to militants persisted in 2016, with 13 incidents documented involving Al -Shabaab, Ahl Sunna Wal-Jama‘a, and soldiers of the Somali National Army. An emerging trend during the reporting period involved the authorities subjecting the relatives and wives of alleged Al-Shabaab members to collective punishment, including extrajudicial executions, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests. The authorities justify such treatment on the grounds that the relatives of Al-Shabaab members support the insurgency by providing information and thus constitute a threat. A similar phenomenon is affecting children separated from Al-Shabaab, as reported by the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea (see S/2016/919), which documented allegations of sexual abuse against detainees at the Mogadishu Serendi camp, including in the context of intelligence-gathering. Reported threats of sexual assault in settings such as the Mogadishu central prison and facilities overseen by the National Intelligence and Security Agency were also received by the United Nations. 57. A sexual offences act was adopted in Puntland on 20 August, and sexual offences bills are awaiting passage by Parliament in Somalia and Somaliland. A protocol for the clinical management of rape is in place to enhance the quality of care and 17 “one-stop centres” have been established across the country. The protocol includes referrals to safe houses, which provided temporary protection to 61 survivors during the first half of 2016. Other efforts to address sexual violence include the provision of free legal services and the establishment of mobile courts. Despite these improvements, obtaining convictions remains a challenge: families tend to withdraw complaints in favour of reaching settlements outside the formal system, which benefits clans rather than survivors. In response, the Government has developed a traditional dispute resolution policy to encourage sexual violence cases to be brought before the courts. The establishment in 2016 of the Women and Child Protection Unit within the police, in line with a new approach that aims to bolster gender balance and capacity, is another positive development. Recommendation 58. I urge the Government to adopt the sexual offences bills and to strengthen reporting mechanisms on sexual violence. I also urge the Government to implement Security Council resolution 2331 (2016) by ensuring that women and children separated from Al-Shabaab receive support as victims of terrorism, rather than being treated as threats or intelligence assets. South Sudan 59. Since December 2013, South Sudan has been riven by conflict. Widespread and systematic sexual violence has been used as a tactic of war to terrorize and persecute populations in a manner that indicates its ethnic, as well as political, undertones. The latest wave of unrest resulted in almost two million people being displaced internally and over one million fleeing across borders, exacerbating the risk of sexual violence by militias, armed youth and elements of the security forces. Fear spread by sexual violence causes women to restrict their movements, impeding livelihood activities. The situation is exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Pervasive impunity has normalized extreme patterns of violence, as national institutions are unable to effectively prosecute rape or provide remedies. The weakness of the formal justice system has increased reliance on traditional 17-05090 17/33