This report seeks to broaden the scope of peace and conflict impact monitoring by highlighting issues of concern to women, and by showing how these issues may enrich the field. It also describes the experiences and tools used by women’s organizations in holding peace and conflict impact assessment and mainstreaming gender into conflict-sensitive environment.

This manual, specifically addressed to groups and individuals not well versed in legal matters, provides tools to human rights activists and defenders who investigate violence perpetrated against women by non-state actors. Its goal is to offer guidance with regard to the legal definitions and human rights protection mechanisms that may help them compel States to fulfill their obligation to protect. It presents concrete examples of particular forms of violence committed against women by non-state actors and models of strategies that have been used effectively, particularly in Muslim communities.