‘Trauma lasts for generations’: UN highlights the weaponization of sexual violence
Authorization is established through Security Council Resolution 1888 (2009) calls for the appointment of a Special Representative to lead United Nations efforts to address the issue of rape in conflict, among other actions.
“It realizes that Like bullets, bombs and blades, the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence has devastated communities, driven displacement and caused trauma that lasts for generations.Pramila Patten, a United Nations expert working to eradicate this crime, said.
Women under gunfire
Sexual violence in conflict is as old as conflict itself and is used to instill fear, dominate and displace populations. Women and girls are disproportionately affected.
The commemoration was held amid growing global unrest, with conflicts at their highest level since World War II.
Last year, more than 170 conflicts were recorded worldwide and global military spending exceeded $2.2 trillion.
Today, more than 612 million women and girls live in the shadow of conflict, including in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti.
Justice for survivors
Survivors and supporters who attended the event shared their testimonies.
Lyudmila Huseynova from Ukraine tells of the torture and sexual violence she endured during more than three years of Russian captivity following the 2014 war in the East.
She was kidnapped in 2019 and released in a prison exchange in October 2022. Since then, she has worked with a Ukrainian women’s advocacy organization still held by Russia.
“There are thousands of them suffering unimaginable horrors, separated from their children, without access to medical or legal help.”, she said through an interpreter.
In tribute to survivors, Ms. Patten emphasized that they “need decisive action to turn solutions into results through increased service delivery, economic opportunity and access to justice and compensation”, but most of all they need peace and peace of mind.
“No amount of protection, support or post-incident accountability can replace peaceshe said.
Hold perpetrators accountable: UN Deputy Secretary General
The “heinous crime” of sexual violence in conflict is not only a blatant violation of human rights but also a formidable obstacle to peace, security and development, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed added, saying ending the scourge has never been more urgent.
“We must hold perpetrators accountable, but at the same time, we must innovate to prevent these atrocities in the first place.” she said in a video message.
“We must identify innovative and creative strategies, not only to respond to conflict-related sexual violence but also to prevent it, and ultimately, record such violations in chronicle history once and for all.”
Needs more progress: Hillary Clinton
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who chaired the meeting Security Council The meeting where resolution 1888 on ending sexual violence in the context of war was unanimously adopted, made important observations.
“We know this mission will be just one step on a long journey and over the years there has been progress, but it is not enough,” she said.
Since ending conflict is the surest path to stamping out wartime rape, “the pursuit of peace must be our top priority”. she said, emphasizing the need to support survivors and listen to them.
The international community must also support compensation for survivors, while legally recognizing them as civilian victims of war is essential. This situation must also include children born as a result of wartime rape.
Claim liability
“Fourth, and perhaps most important, accountability is critical, and it starts with those at the top – those who order attacks on civilians and those who carry out attacks by suppressing them. systematic rape, they committed crimes against humanity and must suffer the consequences,” she said.
“That is why today I am calling for Russia to be added to the UN Secretary-General’s list of shame,” she continued.
“I have no illusions that shame alone will stop the Kremlin’s bloody war – a war that was not only fought by emptying its prisons and pulling civilians off the streets to fight, but was now about to use soldiers from North Korea to continue the bloody invasion, This is absurd and unprecedented.”
United Nations report
Most recently United Nations report on conflict-related sexual violence, including 2023, spanning 21 contexts of concern.
The report’s annex lists 50 State and non-State armed groups suspected of committing or being responsible for forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.
Among them are Da’esh in Iraq and Syria, Al-Shabaab in Somalia and two rival armies fighting a brutal war in Sudan.
Many groups in the Annex have been listed multiple times over the years due to continued violations.
