Capitals: Europe and the Arabs
Before the UN Security Council, Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence during Conflict, said that violations of conflict-related sexual violence increased by 50 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, warning that this alarming increase comes in the midst of a global context in which humanitarian access remains restricted. Hardly.
This came in her briefing to the Council yesterday, Tuesday, to review the fifteenth annual report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, which covers the period between January and December 2023.
Patten said that today's meeting takes place at a time when "the world's resources are being used to fan the flames of conflict, while women and children starve," stressing that the existential mission that her team undertakes is to try to "silence the guns and amplify women's voices as a critical component of peace."
The report showed that the outbreak of conflict and its escalation in 2023 led to civilians being exposed to high levels of conflict-related sexual violence, fueled by the proliferation of weapons and increased militarization, and that arms bearers from both state and non-state armed groups targeted civilians with rape, gang rape, and kidnapping at low levels. Record of internal and cross-border displacement.
Patten said that the report monitored 3,688 cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations, and that women and girls constituted 95 percent of those cases, compared to five percent for men and boys.
The report indicated that 32 percent of those documented cases were children, the majority of whom were girls, 98 percent.
Israel and the Palestinian Territory
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict stated that the report includes for the first time this year a section dedicated to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
She touched on her visit to Israel following the attacks launched by Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7, noting that she and her team confirmed that there were reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence had occurred in at least three locations, and that sexual violence had occurred against individuals. being held hostage and may be ongoing.
She also referred to what was stated in the report with regard to the occupied West Bank, where information verified by the United Nations confirmed reports that the arrests and detention of Palestinian women and men by Israeli security forces following the October 7 attacks were often accompanied by Often beatings, ill-treatment and humiliation, including forms of sexual violence.
She added that, according to United Nations entities, similar allegations appeared in Gaza shortly after the start of ground operations carried out by Israeli forces.
"These results in no way justify or legitimize further hostilities, and I continue to echo the Secretary-General's calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, an end to the untold suffering of Palestinian civilians, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," Patten said.
Libya and Yemen
The UN official explained that the report showed that sexual violence remains part of the methods of political repression, used to terrorize and punish opponents, and as a tactic to silence women who actively participate in public and political life, especially in countries such as Libya and Yemen.
The report stated that sporadic clashes in 2023 between armed groups, the illicit proliferation of weapons, continued divisions among Libyan political actors, and deficiencies in governance created an environment in which conflict-related sexual violence was committed with impunity for perpetrators.
In Yemen, the ongoing humanitarian crisis and breakdown of the rule of law have contributed to an environment in which women and girls are exposed to conflict-related sexual violence, according to the report. He added that due to stigma, male norms of honor and fear of retaliation, the crime of sexual violence remains significantly underreported.
Sudan
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sexual Violence in Conflict said the report showed an unprecedented level of use of lethal violence to silence survivors of sexual assault.
She pointed out that service providers on the front lines and women human rights defenders were not spared from these attacks, as armed parties threatened health workers in Sudan and launched reprisals against human rights defenders in South Sudan.
In 2023, the report documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan against 98 women, 18 girls, one man, and one boy, which occurred in the states of Khartoum, South Darfur, and North Darfur.
The report also stated that the United Nations received reliable information about the abduction of more than 160 women and girls, including reports of women and girls being raped and held in slavery-like conditions.
She referred to her visit to the border between Sudan and South Sudan, where women and girls were targets of rape, gang rape and kidnapping.
It called on the parties to the conflict in Sudan to take specific measures to prevent and address sexual violence.
Iraq and Syria
The report also touched on cases of sexual violence in Iraq, where it said that the United Nations verified the sexual violence committed by ISIS against 11 girls, three of whom were kidnapped in 2014 and rescued in 2023.
The report also noted that the escalation of hostilities in Syria, along with economic hardship, has exposed women and girls to high levels of risk of sexual violence, especially in places of displacement and detention.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict said that the availability of weapons directly facilitates such attacks, and that between 70 and 90 percent One of the cases associated with conflict-related sexual violence involves the use of weapons, especially firearms. The UN official stated that the report listed 58 parties suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of sexual violence, most of which are non-state parties.
Regarding access to justice, she noted that "many perpetrators of sexual violence in times of war get away with it, while women and girls live in fear."
She also noted that the illicit flow of weapons has a “chilling effect” on women’s ability to mobilize for peace. Patten stressed that “sexual violence cannot be addressed without transforming power dynamics. Starting today, we need women in this room, and regulated weapons.” A ban, money on the table for human rights defenders, and change on the ground.”
“Women in war-torn corners of the world need to see hope on the political horizon,” she added.