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Abstract
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We are faced with a global plague of sexual and gender based violence and urgently need targeted interventions, say Helen Clark, Michelle Bachelet, and José Manuel Albares
Rape is being used in conflict as a deliberate military strategy and is feared most by women and girls as soon as the shooting starts. They are right to be afraid. Rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence have become shockingly common in humanitarian settings worldwide.
Conflict related sexual violence is on the rise globally—in a report of the United Nations secretary general to the UN Security Council, 49 global parties were noted as being credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict in 2021.1
The testimony of a woman from Central Equatoria in South Sudan is unfortunately all too familiar. Attacked by soldiers in her own home, she told how, “After one man bit me, another pointed the gun directly on my chest and said if I don’t accept them then he will kill me.”2 As this human right violation unfolded, the woman’s children were nearby.
Sexual and gender based violence flourishes whenever armed conflict occurs, because fear, chaos, and confusion provide perfect cover for the perpetrators. Conflicts exacerbate gender inequalities that disproportionately affect women and girls worldwide, and worsen the levels of violence to which they are subjected. The breakdown of social norms, legal restraints, and common protections gives armed men the opportunity to target vulnerable women, children, and adolescents. Often this is an intentional tactic designed to terrorise the population.
Conflicts and natural disasters break up families, displace women, children, and adolescents, and force them into refugee camps and other unsafe settings where they are cut off from their communities, social structures, and networks of support, and from health and social services ...
Language: en |