| dc.description.abstract | Following the establishment of the UN and the Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Crime Court (ICC) and the Rome Statute, international guidelines have been developed on how to prosecute and punish crimes against humanity. During the tribunals following the Rwandan genocide, sexualized violence against women during times of conflict has been considered a crime of war. During UN’s 68th session of the General Assembly there was a resounding commitment to protect women from violence, including egregious sexual violence that is being perpetrated in too many conflicts around the world. The resolve of the international community was exemplified by the endorsement by 122 countries of a historic ‘Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict’. This research sets out to discover whether local NGOs in the Global South, focusing on Sri Lanka, succeed in adapting international guidelines set by major global organisations such as the UN when working with survivors of sexualized violence post-conflict, in a local and national context. The study was conducted while doing fieldwork in Colombo, using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Analysing the findings thematically, the main challenges for the NGOs interviewed were revealed to be the stigmatisation regarding sexualized violence as well as the fear of re-victimisation. The NGOs expressed that living in a patriarchal society is the root cause of these challenges, and that the solution presents itself only in form of better education of young boys as well as older men. Despite the changes in laws and policies, the NGOs express that a change in attitudes is what is truly needed. | eng |