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Sexual violence used as "tactic of war and terror" must be stopped: UN envoy

Xinhua, April 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

A UN envoy Wednesday called on the international community to send a clear message that it is time to stop the trend that sexual violence is being used as "tactic of war and terror" to target religious and ethnic miniorities.

Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said "sexual violence in conflict represents a great moral issue of our time," as she presented to the Security Council the 2015 report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.

"The history of warzone rape has been a history of denial. It is time to bring these crimes, and those who commit them, into the spotlight of international scrutiny and to send a clear message that the world will not tolerate that use of sexual violence as a tactic of war and terror," she said.

The report, documenting horrendous crimes committed in global conflict zones in 2014, identifies some 19 countries and lists 45 armed groups suspected of committing these crimes, including state forces, opposition groups and violent extremist groups.

Bangura said that there is a focus of sexual violence as a threat used to induce displacement, as well as a highlight on the vulnerability and targeting of ethnic and religious minorities. The report points out that "women's empowerment and sexual violence prevention should be central to the international response."

The envoy noted that there is a new trend of the use of sexual violence as a "tactic of terror" by extremist groups in Iraq, Syria as well as in Somalia, Nigeria and Mali. She will depart for a visit to the Middle East on Thursday to examine the issue.

Bangura also noted that the progress at national level is crucial and addressing the issue is possible even under challenging circumstances, citing positive examples in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The era of silence has been replaced by international recognition that the shame of rape resides not in the victims, but in the perpetrators, and any party that seeks to condone or conceal their conduct," she said. Endite