Our story
SEMA welcomed 10 new members from 8 countries and formally adopted its Charter, marking a key milestone for the network.
In June, SEMA participated in the first Asia Regional Survivors Exchange in Bangkok, and in October, 9 SEMA members participated in a learning exchange among 8 survivor networks in Uganda.
SEMA members continued their global advocacy, including at the NAP 1325 Signatory event organised by the Government of the Netherlands in The Hague, the NGO Forum of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, a regional hearing for torture survivors with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in Asia, and the unveiling of the Petrified Survivors sculpture in The Hague and Berlin.
On 8 March, International Women’s Day, launch of the SEMA Virtual Memorial, a unique space dedicated to preserving and sharing the collective memories of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. As of 2025, the Memorial hosted more than 70 initiatives spanning 18 countries.
SEMA was at the forefront of the art installation Thinking of You (The Hague 2024) launched by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation – an art exhibition by Alketa Xhafa Mripa dedicated to survivors of CRSV – by collecting and donating 500+ dresses for the installation.
SEMA members Jaqueline Mutere (Kenya) and Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman (Kosovo) participated in the expert panel discussion “The ICJ: An effective avenue for prevention, justice and redress for CRSV?” in The Hague.
20 survivors from SEMA, SAG and Colombia attended the PSVI Conference in November, in Bogotá. 4 SEMA members were panelists in this conference.
26 SEMA members from 11 African countries participated in a regional retreat in Nairobi, Kenya. During the retreat, SEMA recorded a new song “Freedom”.
Launch of SEMA’s art exhibition “We Are Speaking, Are You Listening?”.
SEMA members spoke at several conferences and meetings, including FIGO’s 2023 World Congress, the PSVI Wilton Park Survivors Retreat, Wilton Park’s conference on the Crimes Against Humanity Treaty and the launch of the Mukwege Foundation’s Guidebook on State Obligations for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.
SEMA expanded from 21 to 26 countries around the world.
Global retreat of SEMA in the Netherlands organised by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation , reunited survivors from 21 countries. During the retreat, SEMA members wrote and recorded their new song ‘Solidarity’ and started engaging with the Mukwege Foundation’s Red Line Initiative.
22 SEMA members attended the PSVI Conference in November, in London. 13 SEMA members were panelists in this conference. SEMA hosted a session at the conference: Five years of SEMA: the successes and challenges of the global movement of survivors of CRSV.
SEMA created its Call to Action and launched it at PSVI’s Conference.
Released of photo book “Breaking the Silence: Turning Pain Into Power”.
SEMA members saw each other in person after 1+ year of a global pandemic at the Regional Symposium of Survivors in Uganda. This symposium organised by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation brought together 22 survivors of grave crimes, including sexual violence, torture, human trafficking, among others.
SEMA members participated in the UN General Assembly’s side event ‘Women in Conflicts’.
Facing a global pandemic, SEMA members started meeting online more regularly with the support of the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation. They continued to advocate for holistic care, justice and reparations in online public-speaking events.
SEMA member Tatiana Mukanire (DRC) participated in the 44th session of the Human Rights Council. SEMA member Grace Acan (Uganda) spoke at the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. SEMA members also participated in CSW’s side event, the launch of the Declaration of Humanity by leaders of faith and leaders of belief and the launch of ICRC’s report on mandatory reporting of sexual violence in armed conflict.
The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation brought together survivors from 18 countries for the third global retreat in 2019, which took place in Luxembourg. SEMA participated in the Stand Speak Rise Up international conference organised by Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Twenty members of SEMA spoke during the event about holistic care, reparations, survivors’ movements, children born of rape and justice.
Made possible by the network’s strong advocacy efforts, SEMA members saw their dream of a global fund for reparations come to reality. In October, SEMA members participated in the launch of the Global Survivors Fund in New York.
Later that year, in November 2019, two SEMA members from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi took part in a discussion with senior NATO representatives at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
The second global retreat of survivors organised by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation took place in the Netherlands. Survivors decided on a name for their network: SEMA, which means ‘Speak Out’ in Swahili.
SEMA members spoke for the first time at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and they continued to advocate for reparations.
Four survivors of the global network participated in the first Memorial Day for ‘Comfort Women’ celebrated in South Korea on 14 August and spoke at the International Symposium where they expressed their solidarity with Korean women. On this occasion, SEMA member Sylvia was awarded the first Kim Bok-dong Peace Prize.
In 2017, the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation initiated SEMA. By organising the first global retreat in Geneva, the organisation brought together survivors of conflict-related sexual violence from 14 countries. During this retreat, survivors decided to create a Global Network of Survivors to:
- Build solidarity between survivors worldwide
- Contribute to the collective memory around CRSV
- Breaking the silence around CRSV
- Advocating for the end of sexual violence used as a weapon of war and the rights of survivors, including the right to reparations.
During this first retreat, survivors write, record and perform the network’s first song ‘Little Bird’, and decide on their motto “Nothing About Us, Without Us”.