S/2017/249 United Nations Security Council Distr.: General 15 April 2017 Original: English Report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence Report of the Secretary-General I. Introduction 1. The present report, which covers the period from January to December 2016, is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2106 (2013), in which the Council requested me to report annually on the implementation of resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1960 (2010) and to recommend strategic actions. Developments during the reporting period, including the rise in violent extremism and mass migration, drew attention to the attendant risk of trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual violence/exploitation. Among the perpetrators are hybrid criminal-terrorist networks, which have used the bodies of women and girls as a form of currency in the political economy of war. In response, the Council adopted resolution 2331 (2016), the first to address the nexus between such trafficking, sexual violence, terrorism and transnational organized crime. This paves the way for more systematic monitoring and reporting, as well as enhanced information -sharing and judicial cooperation. It further affirmed that victims of trafficking and sexual violence committed by terrorist groups should be eligible for official redress as victims of terrorism. The acknowledgement of sexual violence as a tactic of terrorism, integral to recruitment, resourcing and r adicalization strategies, links this issue formally to global action aimed at curbing terrorist financing, including the work of relevant sanctions regimes. 2. The term “conflict-related sexual violence”, as used in the present report, refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls or boys that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. This link may be evident in the profile of the perpetrator (often affiliated with a State or non-State armed group, including a terrorist entity or network), the profile of the victim (who is frequently an actual or perceived member of a persecuted political, ethnic or religious minority, or is targeted on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity), the climate of impunity (which is generally associated with State collapse), cross border consequences (such as displacement or trafficking in persons) and/or violations of the provisions of a ceasefire agreement. The term also encompasses 17-05090 (E) 210417 *1705090*