Latest news with #InternationalDayfortheEliminationofSexualViolenceinConflict
Scoop
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Statement By Radhouane Nouicer On The International Day For The Elimination Of Sexual Violence In Conflict
Geneva, 19 June 2025 As we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, sexual violence continues to leave lasting scars on individuals, families and entire communities across Sudan. With the war in Sudan now in its third year, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) remains rampant. I am deeply alarmed by the continued failure of warring parties to prevent such violence. As of 31 May 2025, UN Human Rights had documented 368 incidents of CRSV in Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict, involving at least 521 victims. More than half of these cases involved rape, including gang rape, often targeting internally displaced women and girls, and often marked by ethnic hatred. Over 70 per cent of documented incidents were attributed to the Rapid Support Forces. Yet this figure only reflects a small fraction of the real picture, compared with the hundreds of incidents that remain unreported due to stigma, fear of retaliation, and the collapse of medical and legal systems in certain areas. Testimonies of survivors of sexual violence highlight shocking brutality, and pervasive patterns of such horrific acts. UN Human Rights has documented accounts of rape committed in front of family members, abductions and subsequent sexual violence, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and assaults on woman activists including those documenting CRSV. Sexual violence often occurred alongside other grave violations and abuses, including killing, torture and arbitrary detention. As the conflict has continued to intensify in 2025, there have been increased reports of the use of sexual violence, including on the basis of ethnic origin, as a tool of fear, reprisal, and intimidation by both parties to the conflict and their affiliated militias and groups. Women and girls do not start wars, yet they continue to bear the brunt of their consequences. CRSV is both a grave human rights emergency and a humanitarian crisis, with enduring harm that extends to families, children born of rape, and entire generations, while perpetrators remain largely unpunished. I strongly condemn the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan. The prevalence of sexual violence inflicts devastating and long-lasting harm on survivors' physical, reproductive, and mental health, while tearing apart the social fabric of entire communities. Women, girls, men and boys need to be protected from sexual violence, and their safety and security must be ensured. Perpetrators must be held accountable, and justice mechanisms, both national and international, must be mobilized to end impunity for these heinous crimes. I call on all parties and the international community to act immediately, to hold perpetrators accountable regardless of their affiliation, to ensure that survivors receive medical care, and to protect future generations from such horrors. No matter how long it may take, justice must not be denied, for this generation, and the next generation.
Scoop
19-06-2025
- Scoop
Long After The Guns Fall Silent, Conflict-related Sexual Violence Leaves Lasting Scars
19 June 2025 In 2024 alone, the UN verified around 4,500 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), though the real number is likely much higher. An overwhelming 93 per cent of survivors were women and girls. Under international law, CRSV is recognised as a war crime, a crime against humanity, and an act that can constitute genocide. Its long-lasting impact undermines efforts to build lasting peace. On Thursday, the UN marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, highlighting the enduring and intergenerational effects of this brutal tactic. Tactic of war In many conflicts, sexual violence is deliberately used to terrorise, punish and humiliate civilians. ' It is used to terrorise, to punish, but also to humiliate civilians, especially women and girls, ' said Esméralda Alabre, coordinator of the UN reproductive health agency's (UNFPA) response to gender-based violence in Sudan, speaking to UN News. But the harm does not stop with the survivors. CRSV is often used to tear apart communities and undermine social cohesion. It fragments families, spreads fear and deepens societal divisions. In Haiti, gangs have forced family members to rape their own mothers and wives, according to Pascale Solages, founder of a feminist organization in the country. Women's bodies are being turned into battlegrounds. Perpetrators aim to destroy community bonds, using rape as a tool of domination and control. Survivors are left to carry the burden of trauma, stigma and isolation, she told UN News. Generational trauma Many survivors are silenced by fears of reprisal and retaliation: 'to break the cycle, we must confront horrors of the past,' said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in a statement marking the day. Trauma is not only immediate, but also creates deep and lasting intergenerational wounds, as the cycle of violence often impacts multiple generations. Shunned from their communities, many survivors are forced to raise children born out of rape, on their own. ' It's almost like their cries are being ignored by the world,' said Ms. Alabre. Survivors of CRSV and their children, often excluded from education, employment, and other essential aspects of life, are pushed into poverty – further deepening their vulnerability. ' For too many women and children, war is not over when it's over,' said the UN Special Representative who advocates for all those who experience sexual violence in conflict settings, Pramila Patten. Need for accountability Survivors not only have the right to safety and support, but also to justice and redress. Yet, ' too often, perpetrators walk free, cloaked in impunity while survivors often bear the impossible burden of stigma and shame,' said Mr. Guterres. The limited availability of support services, especially following recent aid cuts, stands in the way of survivors' healing: not only is it becoming harder for survivors to hold their attackers accountable, prevention efforts are being stymied by funding cuts in many capitals since the start of the year. 'What happened to me could have been prevented,' survivors have told Ms. Patten time and time again. Yet, in March alone, UNFPA's Sudan office had to close 40 women and girls safe spaces, impeding efforts to provide both immediate and long-term care to survivors. Community-based interventions, child-friendly support for child survivors' education, and legislative policy changes play a crucial role in preventing CRSV. ' If we undermine investment in women's recovery, we undermine investment in conflict recovery, and we all inherit a less safe world,' said Ms. Patten.
The Star
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
UN urges more support for sexual violence survivors, victims in Somalia
MOGADISHU, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict in Somalia on Thursday with a call for greater support for survivors and victims of sexual violence. "Somali communities deserve praise for supporting survivors and victims of these heinous crimes," UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia James Swan said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. "For Somalia to build a society free of stigma and the trauma of sexual violence, we all must work to prevent and respond to sexual violence," he added, calling on Somali authorities to continue and enhance efforts in combating stigma and providing meaningful support to survivors, their families, and communities. In line with this year's theme of "Intergenerational Effects of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence," the UN in Somalia said it is working with stakeholders to highlight how sexual violence inflicts long-term harm, not only on individuals but also on the broader social fabric, often leaving families and communities grappling with its devastating effects for generations. The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed annually on June 19. It serves as a reminder of the international community's shared responsibility to prevent and end conflict-related sexual violence and to uphold the dignity and human rights of all. The date also marks the UN Security Council's adoption of a resolution recognizing sexual violence as a weapon of war and a threat to international peace and security.
Indian Express
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
International Day of Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict 2025: Know the date, theme, history, and significance
International Day of Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict 2025: Sexual violence during armed wars is classified as a war crime, a crime against humanity, and a genocide under international law, all of which impede and threaten world peace and security. As a result, the United Nations General Assembly established International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19, 2015. The day was designated to commemorate the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on June 19, 2008, which denounced sexual assault as a war strategy and a barrier to peacebuilding. Fear and cultural shame continue to impede the great majority of survivors of conflict-related sexual assault from reporting such victimisation, with according to UN field practitioners, 10 to 20 occurrences of rape reported during a war go unrecorded. This day raises awareness about the need to eliminate conflict-related sexual violence, honour and stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of sexual assault globally, and the ones who have courageously dedicated and sacrificed their lives campaigning for the abolition of such crimes. This year will mark 11th year of the observance, falling on Thursday, June 19, 2025, under the theme of Breaking the Cycle, Healing the Scars: Addressing the Intergenerational Effects of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence which seeks to instil hope, knowledge, and inspiration as the globe raises its voice to declare, '#EndRapeInWar'. This year's focus is on the significant and long-lasting intergenerational traumas caused by conflict-related sexual assault, as highlighted in the message of António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General. According to the UN, the term 'conflict-related sexual violence' can be defined as rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilisation, forced marriage, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated. For too many women and children, war is not over when it's over. Its effects echo long after the final battle and far beyond the battlefield. We see it in the eyes of survivors, in the children born of war, and, in fractured families. — UN Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (@endrapeinwar) June 18, 2025 It also includes human trafficking, which occurs in conflict contexts for sexual assault or exploitation. All these can be defined as and are examples of 'conflict-related sexual violence' against women, men, girls, or boys, and are directly or indirectly linked to a conflict.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh issues heartfelt plea against sexual violence: 'We must do better'
The Duchess of Edinburgh has spoken passionately of her campaign to highlight the plight of victims of sexual violence in conflict, saying: 'We must do better.' Sophie, 60, who has spoken out on the issue for years and met hundreds of survivors around the world, was visiting the UK's first exhibition dedicated to the subject on Wednesday. Featuring shocking stories ranging from the First World War until the present day, the royal expressed her frustration as she toured the displays at the way the issue is still swept under the carpet - and the cultural norms that give rise to the degradation of women even today. She looked amazed when told that the British Royal Air Force didn't ban 'nose art' - the drawing of scantily-clad women on the front of their fighter planes - until 2007. 'Surprising….' she said, clearly unimpressed and raising an eyebrow. Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict has opened at the Imperial War Museum in London and will run until November 2. It is a subject the duchess - who was making her visit to the exhibition ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19 - says is woefully 'under-discussed'. In recent years the King's sister-in-law, who is married to his brother, Prince Edward, has travelled to current and former war zones including Chad, the Congo, Kosovo, South Chad, Lebanon and Sierra Leone. She has devoted much of her latter working life as a royal to supporting the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and is passionate about championing gender equality. Shocking stories of the use of rape and sexual assault as a weapon of war against both women and men have emerged from the current conflict in Ukraine, including a powerful report just weeks ago in the Daily Mail. Sophie, dressed elegantly in a Gabriela Hearst pink silk maxi dress and Jimmy Choo heels, was keen to ensure that survivors has been consulted on the exhibition, saying: 'This is about them, their voice matters'. The Duchess of Edinburgh with curator Helen Upcraft during a visit to the Imperial War Museum's new exhibition. Sophie looked amazed when told that the British Royal Air Force didn't ban 'nose art' - the drawing of scantily-clad women on the front of their fighter planes - until 2007 And she was assured their stories had been 'integral' to the process by exhibitions manager Jack Davies manage and curator Helen Upcraft. 'Unsilenced' examines how and why gender violence is perpetrated, its impact on victims and the pursuit of justice and reconciliation, with powerful testimonies from survivors and interviews with experts in the field. The Duchess spoke movingly about a visit she had made to Kosovo in 2019 and how deeply moved she had been when speaking to women about the 'shame and stigma' they experienced as a result of being brutalised. Discussing the horror of the many women who fell pregnant by their attackers, she said: 'The stigma that is sadly placed on the women….it's about the mothers. In so many countries they can't even go back into the home place,' she said. 'I met a woman in Kosovo. A number of years ago there was a programme on what had happened [there] and the numbers they estimated of the women who had been raped. She told me how her husband had been so empathetic and he had been horrified [about the statistics] because they didn't know. And because he had been so empathetic and saying this was just so awful that she felt brave enough to admit to him that she had been one of them. And that was the end of her marriage. 'This is the problem. It's the legacy. And unless we as a society help, we have to help people understand that they are not the ones who have the shame. It is not their lives who should be destroyed. We have to do better.' Sophie was also shown displays of wartime propaganda, which can itself create an atmosphere where sexual violence can occur. This includes the sexual slavery of the 'Comfort Women Corps' in the Second World War, the state-sanctioned violence against Yazidi women and girls by ISIS in 2014, as well as the Soviet Red Army in Berlin in 1945 , and even the US treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib in 2004. 'This is not just something that happens to foreigners by foreigners, this is something we all need to address,' the duchess said. Turning to another display on women forced to have sex for rations so that their families can survive, she added sadly: 'It's a way of some people staying alive.' The duchess also looked particularly horrified at a display of drawings by Sudanese children depicting the sexual violence they had seen their mothers, sisters and even grandmothers subjected to, including a particularly shocking image of a soldier turning his eyes away in shame at what his colleague was doing. 'It's so vivid,' she gasped. Justice, she said, was a perennial problems for victims. 'It's a tiny, tiny scratch on the surface…The issue of prosecution, it's so hard to ever get any kind of closure on any of this. To try and prosecute. Where do you start? Do you prosecute a country? A leader? Of course this does happen. But it's important to recognise this at the highest level,' she insisted. Thanked for her own role in highlighting the issue, the royal added: 'It's a privilege. If we could all do ourselves out of a job…it would be great.'
