Canadian Defence and Security Network - Réseau Canadien Sur La Défense et la Sécurité
254 episodes
2 weeks ago
📌 Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence and atrocities. Listener discretion is advised.
Recorded during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, this episode of Bylines & Frontlines confronts one of the most pervasive yet under-addressed crimes of modern conflict: conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
CRSV is not incidental. It is not inevitable. And it is not a by-product of chaos.
As our guests make clear, sexual violence is planned, enabled, and weaponized—used deliberately to terrorize populations, fracture communities, clear territory, discipline armed groups, and, in some cases, advance genocidal intent.
In this episode, we explore:
CRSV as a tactic and weapon
How sexual violence functions as a low-cost, high-impact weapon targeting the human and moral terrain of societies—from Tigray to Ukraine and beyond.
Early warning signs and patterns
Why mass sexual violence is rarely spontaneous, how it can be detected early, and why failure to act is often a matter of political and operational choice—not lack of information.
The military’s role and responsibility
From armed forces as first responders, to force protection, to the hard truth of preventing perpetration within one’s own ranks—this conversation examines command responsibility, accountability, and prevention.
Children born of war
A population rendered invisible by stigma, silence, and policy gaps. We discuss who these children are, why they remain excluded from reparations frameworks, and what governments and international institutions owe them.
Survivors, justice, and recognition
Including emerging efforts—such as survivor-informed reparations models—that challenge the historical failure to acknowledge sexual violence as a core international crime.
Featuring:
Emily Prey — Director of the Mass Atrocities & International Law Portfolio and the Gender Policy Portfolio at the New Lines Institute
Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Lake, MSM, CD — Canadian Armed Forces; former Commander, Operation UNIFIER; NATO gender leadership expert
Commander Tyson Nicholas, RAN — Strategic Military Advisor, UN Women
Hosted by: Riel Erickson
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📌 Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence and atrocities. Listener discretion is advised.
Recorded during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, this episode of Bylines & Frontlines confronts one of the most pervasive yet under-addressed crimes of modern conflict: conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
CRSV is not incidental. It is not inevitable. And it is not a by-product of chaos.
As our guests make clear, sexual violence is planned, enabled, and weaponized—used deliberately to terrorize populations, fracture communities, clear territory, discipline armed groups, and, in some cases, advance genocidal intent.
In this episode, we explore:
CRSV as a tactic and weapon
How sexual violence functions as a low-cost, high-impact weapon targeting the human and moral terrain of societies—from Tigray to Ukraine and beyond.
Early warning signs and patterns
Why mass sexual violence is rarely spontaneous, how it can be detected early, and why failure to act is often a matter of political and operational choice—not lack of information.
The military’s role and responsibility
From armed forces as first responders, to force protection, to the hard truth of preventing perpetration within one’s own ranks—this conversation examines command responsibility, accountability, and prevention.
Children born of war
A population rendered invisible by stigma, silence, and policy gaps. We discuss who these children are, why they remain excluded from reparations frameworks, and what governments and international institutions owe them.
Survivors, justice, and recognition
Including emerging efforts—such as survivor-informed reparations models—that challenge the historical failure to acknowledge sexual violence as a core international crime.
Featuring:
Emily Prey — Director of the Mass Atrocities & International Law Portfolio and the Gender Policy Portfolio at the New Lines Institute
Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Lake, MSM, CD — Canadian Armed Forces; former Commander, Operation UNIFIER; NATO gender leadership expert
Commander Tyson Nicholas, RAN — Strategic Military Advisor, UN Women
Hosted by: Riel Erickson
Bylines & Frontlines, Episode 3: From Tragedy to Accountability: Gender-Based Violence and State Responsibility
CDSN Podcast Network
1 hour 4 minutes 23 seconds
2 months ago
Bylines & Frontlines, Episode 3: From Tragedy to Accountability: Gender-Based Violence and State Responsibility
In this powerful episode of Bylines and Frontlines, hosts Frieda Castellanos and Dr. Colleen Bell take on one of the most urgent global issues of our time—gender-based violence in contexts where states are unresponsive or complicit. Recorded on the eve of Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the discussion bridges histories of harm and the ongoing struggle for justice.
Our guests bring deep expertise and lived commitment to this topic:
Murwarid Ziayee, Senior Director at Right to Learn Afghanistan, reflects on how women’s rights and safety have been systematically eroded under Taliban rule—and the quiet networks still keeping hope alive.
Sheila North, journalist, filmmaker, and former Grand Chief of MKO, shares hard-won insights from her work on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada, including her acclaimed documentary 1200+ and memoir My Privilege, My Responsibility.
Soma Bidarpour, Kurdish scholar and PhD researcher at the University of Ottawa, unpacks how authoritarian regimes in Iran and Afghanistan weaponize control over women’s bodies as a form of state violence.
Together, they examine how impunity is sustained, how journalism and advocacy can shift narratives, and how communities across Afghanistan, Iran, and Canada are resisting and reshaping their futures.
Listeners will come away with both structural insights and concrete actions—from survivor-centered reporting to data sovereignty, legal reform, and transnational solidarity.
CDSN Podcast Network
📌 Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence and atrocities. Listener discretion is advised.
Recorded during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, this episode of Bylines & Frontlines confronts one of the most pervasive yet under-addressed crimes of modern conflict: conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
CRSV is not incidental. It is not inevitable. And it is not a by-product of chaos.
As our guests make clear, sexual violence is planned, enabled, and weaponized—used deliberately to terrorize populations, fracture communities, clear territory, discipline armed groups, and, in some cases, advance genocidal intent.
In this episode, we explore:
CRSV as a tactic and weapon
How sexual violence functions as a low-cost, high-impact weapon targeting the human and moral terrain of societies—from Tigray to Ukraine and beyond.
Early warning signs and patterns
Why mass sexual violence is rarely spontaneous, how it can be detected early, and why failure to act is often a matter of political and operational choice—not lack of information.
The military’s role and responsibility
From armed forces as first responders, to force protection, to the hard truth of preventing perpetration within one’s own ranks—this conversation examines command responsibility, accountability, and prevention.
Children born of war
A population rendered invisible by stigma, silence, and policy gaps. We discuss who these children are, why they remain excluded from reparations frameworks, and what governments and international institutions owe them.
Survivors, justice, and recognition
Including emerging efforts—such as survivor-informed reparations models—that challenge the historical failure to acknowledge sexual violence as a core international crime.
Featuring:
Emily Prey — Director of the Mass Atrocities & International Law Portfolio and the Gender Policy Portfolio at the New Lines Institute
Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Lake, MSM, CD — Canadian Armed Forces; former Commander, Operation UNIFIER; NATO gender leadership expert
Commander Tyson Nicholas, RAN — Strategic Military Advisor, UN Women
Hosted by: Riel Erickson
