This article analyses key documents and field reports in order to make explicit the kinds of conceptual perspectives that frame the work on sexual violence against women. It explores the ways in which the Beijing Declaration on Violence and Security Council Resolution 1325, which focus on women as victims of sexual violence, have framed the work on gender-based violence in the international arena. The article argues that the focus on women as the sole victims of violence hampers sustainable peacebuilding and development in post-conflict societies. Such a focus fails to address the ways in which boys and men experience different forms of sexual violence and limits the potential efficacy of interventions around gender-based violence.
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