(New York, 26 May 2015) Over a year since the extremist group Boko Haram abducted 276 teenage girls in Chibok, Borno State, in Nigeria, many remain in captivity, along with hundreds of others who have been abducted both before and since. I am appalled by reports that hundreds of the recently released female captives were repeatedly raped by Boko Haram militias and compelled to “marry” their captors, pursuant to a campaign of forced imprisonment and forced impregnation. These latest revelations suggest that Boko Haram is not only destroying existing family and community structures, but is bent on controlling their future composition. In order to give rise to a new generation raised in their own image, they are waging war on women’s physical, sexual and reproductive autonomy and rights.

These are not isolated atrocities. They are part of a wider pattern of women and girls being deliberately targeted by interlinked extremist groups, who share an ideological opposition to the education, rights and freedoms of women. In this context, sexual violence is not merely incidental, but integral, to their strategy of domination and self-perpetuation. In the stories of those recently released from Boko Haram captivity, I hear poignant echoes of the words of the women and girls I met last month in the Middle East, who had been freed from sexual slavery by ISIL. In both cases, they describe being treated as chattels to be “owned” and traded, and as vessels for producing children for fighters.

I reiterate my calls for all abducted women and girls to be immediately released from captivity and returned safely to their families. I call upon the Government of Nigeria, with support from the international community and local organizations, to provide medical and psychosocial care, including antenatal care to those who have become pregnant, and treatment for those infected with STIs, including HIV/AIDS. I urge the international community to adopt a coordinated response that addresses the root causes of violent extremism, including the climate of impunity that perpetuates these horrors and emboldens those who commit them. It is critical to the healing process that communities ensure rape survivors are accepted and reintegrated, rather than re-victimized through shame or stigmatization. Supporting the survivors to raise and educate their children in an environment of tolerance, respect and dignity is our best hope of preventing extremists from shattering social cohesion and dictating the future.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Letitia Anderson, UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, tel: 212-963-0910, email: andersonl@un.org; Manel Stambouli, Office of the SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict, tel: 917-367-4018, email: stambouli@un.org