United Nations: Rape is One of the World's Greatest Security Challenges
According the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallstrom, the use of rape as a weapon of war is often overlooked and minimized. Wallstrom noted that mass rape is a crime against humanity and should not be dealt with less seriously than mass murder.
While many continue to dismiss mass rape as a “side effect” of combat or a cultural problem, the Special Representative stressed that in modern warfare, rape has emerged as a weapon of war in its own right. In other words, mass rape is employed as a primary means through which enemy combatants damage and demoralize communities.
Wallstrom hopes to ensure that women and girls in conflict zones feel safer, and her priorities in this regard include:
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Empowering victims of mass rape to access help and justice
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Encouraging political leaders to take measures against sexual violence
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Increasing awareness about the use of rape as a weapon of war
- Increasing coordination and cooperation among United Nations agencies responding to sexual violence
Compiled from: UN official decries ‘overlooked’ crime of rape during conflict, UN News Centre (6 August 2010).
For More Information
For more information about violence against women in armed conflict, please see the Femicide and Sexual Assault sections of the website.
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