sexual violence

Men commit wide-scale sexual crimes with impunity in conflict zones, says UN

12 October 2009
The rampant and brutal abuse of women in war zones continues unchecked, the chair of a United Nations committee said today, urging all nations to ratify the international Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Security Council demands end to conflict-related sexual violence

30 September 2009
The Security Council today demanded that all parties to armed conflict take immediate action to protect civilians, including women and children, from all forms of sexual violence, and urged greater measures by States and the United Nations to combat this scourge.

Visiting DR Congo, UNICEF chief comes face to face with sexual violence victims

28 August 2009
The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) came face to face with some of the young victims of rape and violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as she continued her five-day visit to the vast African nation.

UN peacekeeping missions urged to bolster number of women police officers

7 August 2009
The ranks of female police officers serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world need an urgent boost to more effectively protect and assist women against the rampant use of sexual abuse as a weapon in armed conflict, the world body’s top police advisors stressed today.

Ban urges tougher steps to end widespread sexual violence in armed conflict

27 July 2009
The systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon, mainly against women, is rife in armed conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today in his latest report on the scourge, calling for States to strengthen prevention and protection measures against the crime.

UN experts tackle ‘conspiracy of silence’ over sexual violence in wartime

24 June 2009
Women’s rights activists, senior military figures and top United Nations officials met in New York this week to discuss what the world body’s former humanitarian chief Jan Egeland described as “one of the biggest conspiracies of silence in history” – the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.