In 2024 alone, the UN checked approximately 4,500 cases of sexual violence related to conflicts (CRSV), although the real number is probably much higher. Women and overwhelming girls were women and girls.
Under international law, the CRSV is recognized as a war crime, a crime against humanity and an act which can constitute a genocide. Its lasting impact undermines efforts to strengthen sustainable peace.
Thursday, the UN marked the International day for the elimination of sexual violence in conflicts, Highlight the lasting and intergenerational effects of this brutal tactic.
War tactics
In many conflicts, sexual violence is deliberately used to terrorize, punish and humiliate civilians.
“” It is used to terrorize, punish, but also to humiliate civilians, especially women and girls,“Said Esmeralda Alabre, coordinator of the United Nations Reproductive Health Agency (Unfpa) Response to sexist violence in Sudan, addressing the UN News.
But the evil does not stop with the survivors. The CRSV is often used to tear communities and undermine social cohesion. It fragments families, spreads fear and deepens societal divisions.
In Haiti, the gangs forced family members to violate their own mothers and wives, according to Pascale Solages, founder of a feminist organization in the country.
The body of women is transformed into battlefields. The authors aim to destroy community links, using rape as a tool for domination and control. The survivors are left to carry the burden of trauma, stigma and isolation, She said UN News.
Generational trauma
Many survivors are silenced by fears of reprisals and reprisals: “To break the cycle, we must face the horrors of the past,” said UN secretary general, António Guterres, in a statement mark the day.
The trauma is not only immediate, but also creates deep and lasting intergenerational injuries, because the cycle of violence often has an impact on several generations.
Avoided by their communities, many survivors are forced to raise children born by themselves. “” It is almost as if their cries were ignored by the world“Said Ms. Alabre.
The survivors of the CRSV and their children, often excluded from education, employment and other essential aspects of life, are pushed into poverty – more deepening their vulnerability.
“” For too many women and children, war is not over when it is finished“Said the United Nations Special Representative who advocates all those who experience sexual violence in conflict circles, Pramila Patten.
Need for responsibility
Survivors not only have the right to security and support, but also to justice and repair. Again, ” Too often, the authors walk freely, masked with impunity while survivors often carry the impossible burden of stigma and shameSaid Mr. Guterres.
The limited availability of support services, especially after recent aid reductions, is the healing of survivors: not only does it become more difficult for survivors to hold their responsible attackers, and prevention efforts have been blocked by funding cuts in many capitals since the beginning of the year.
“What happened to me could have been prevented,” Ms. Patten told many times.
However, in March only, the UNFPA Sudan office had to close 40 safe spaces for women and girls, hindering efforts to provide immediate and long -term care to survivors.
Community interventions, support adapted to children to the education of children’s survivors and changes in legislative policy play a crucial role in the prevention of the CRSV.
“” If we have the investment in the resumption of women, we sons up the investment in the resumption of conflicts and that we all inherit a less sure world“Said Ms. Patten.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
