The annual Bergen Exchanges on Law and Social Transformation wrap up today, following a week of stimulating public discussions on the strategic uses of rights and law.

BeEx2021 is hosted by LawTransform. Law Transform is a collaboration between the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and the University of Bergen (UiB) bringing together scholars, students and practitioners who share an interest in how law shapes societies, and the use of rights and courts as tools for social change.

This year Bergen Exchanges featured a roundtable discussion, hosted by the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies, on the unfortunately all too topical issue of sexual violence in humanitarian settings.

In this roundtable, Kristin Sandvik, Elin Skaar and Liv Tønnessen take a critical look at how this issue is addressed by the international community. 

The first part of the discussion explores the turn towards technology as a current trend in humanitarian aid. What should we think about the interface between technology and the fight against conflict-related sexual violence? What are the potential challenges that might emerge from the use of wearable digital technology for combating sexual violence? The second part of the discussion looks at the role of truth commissions in addressing sexual violence post-conflict. How is this done, and to what effect?

Roundtable participants include Kristin Bergtora Sandvik (Professor of Law, University of Oslo and Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo), Elin Skaar (Senior Researcher, CMI) and Liv Tønnessen (Senior Researcher, CMI).

This roundtable is a collaboration between the NCHS and the new CMI/LawTransform Research Council of Norway project on Truth Commissions and Sexual Violence.