Press Release: For Immediate Release
New York, 14 August 2025: In 2024, State and non-State actors perpetrated sexual violence as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism and political repression against over 4,600 survivors according to the 16th annual Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (S/2025/389) published today – marking a staggering 25 per cent increase from the previous year. While these alarming figures do not reflect the global scale and prevalence of these crimes, the report conveys the severity and brutality of this scourge, with the highest number of cases recorded in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan.
The report covers 21 countries for which information verified by the United Nations is available. Women, girls, men, boys, including persons with diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identities, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, were among the victims, ranging in age from one to 75 years old. Twenty-five years after the adoption of the landmark Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on Women and Peace and Security, women continue to constitute the overwhelming majority of victims (92 per cent). In all too many cases, extreme physical violence accompanied sexual attacks, with reports of summary executions of victims after rape. Stigma rooted in harmful social norms resulted in the socioeconomic exclusion and impoverishment of survivors and their children, many of whom have been born as a result of wartime rape.
A prominent trend highlighted in the report relates to various forms of sexual violence perpetrated in formal and informal detention settings, including as a form of torture, humiliation, and information extraction – primarily against men and boys, but also against women and girls. Non-State armed groups used sexual violence to consolidate control over territories and natural resources, and to perpetuate extremist ideologies. The proliferation and widespread availability of small arms and light weapons continued to fuel sexual violence across most contexts. Massive displacement and food insecurity exposed women and girls to heightened risks of sexual violence. Abductions and conflict-related trafficking in person for purposes of sexual slavery and exploitation is another trend noted in the report, including by terrorist groups under Security Council sanctions.
Despite mounting needs, humanitarian access was severely curtailed and/or blocked by parties to conflict. “The unprecedented severity and scale of destruction of healthcare facilities, and attacks, harassment and threats against frontline service providers, has severely hampered access to life-saving assistance for survivors in conflict settings. Services are least available at the very moment when survivors need them most,” noted Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Too often, victims were unable to reach healthcare providers during the crucial 72-hour window when life-saving and specialised services for the clinical management of rape, including post-rape kits and HIV prevention treatments, are most needed. Yet in many contexts, these critical interventions are the most chronically underfunded in humanitarian appeals and fail to meet the scale of the current needs. As a result, survivors, particularly women and girls, grapple with devastating health consequences, and are unable to access sexual and reproductive healthcare, mental health, legal aid and livelihood support. Therefore, the report calls for sustainable funding through the UN’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and the deployment of Women’s Protection Advisers in all relevant situations of concern, in line with Security Council resolution 2467 (2019).
Sixty-three State and non-State parties are listed in the annex of the report, credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council. While the level of compliance by parties to conflict with International Humanitarian Law remains low, several listed parties have undertaken formal commitments to address conflict-related sexual violence. To enhance compliance, the report recommends consistent consideration of sexual violence crimes by Security Council sanctions committees, and the designation of persistent perpetrators for targeted sanctions measures. In addition to eight country-specific sanctions regimes that incorporate sexual violence as part of their designation criteria, in June 2024 the Security Council in resolution 2734 (2024) referred to sexual and gender-based violence explicitly as sanctionable under its Da’esh and Al-Qaida sanctions regime, thereby placing the issue of conflict-related sexual violence at the centre of the UN’s counter-terrorism efforts.
Regarding the listing of new parties in the annex of the report, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the group Résistance pour un Etat de Droit (RED) Tabara is included for the first time due to patterns of violations recorded over several reporting cycles and an egregious incident of mass rape in 2024. In Libya, two State actors are listed, namely the Deterrence Agency for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DACOT) and the Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) based on consistent reports of sexual violence primarily in detention settings, recorded by the United Nations and reported in consecutive annual reports of the Secretary-General. The Internal Security Agency (Benghazi), a non-State actor, is also listed due to documented patterns of sexual violence in detention. With respect to the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Hamas is listed in the annex of the report on the basis of information verified by the United Nations in 2024, indicating reasonable grounds to believe that some hostages taken to Gaza were subjected to different forms of sexual violence during their time in captivity, and clear and convincing information that sexual violence also occurred during the attacks of 7 October 2023 in at least six locations.
The report also introduces, for the first time, an appendix whereby parties are put on notice for potential listing in the next report of the Secretary-General. The consistent denial of access to United Nations monitors in the context of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, has made it challenging to verify and definitively determine the patterns, trends and systematicity of sexual violence in these contexts. Nonetheless, due to significant concerns regarding patterns of certain forms of sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli armed and security forces and Russian armed and security forces and affiliated armed groups, these parties have been put on notice for potential listing in the next reporting period. These concerns relate primarily to violations recorded in detention settings.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call on all parties to conflict to put in place specific measures to prevent sexual violence, as explicitly outlined in Security-Council 2467 (2019). This includes the issuance of clear orders through chains of command prohibiting such violations, accountability for perpetrators and unimpeded access for UN entities for purposes of monitoring and provision of services. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General stands ready to engage and provide technical support to parties in responding to and preventing conflict-related sexual violence.
“The promise expressed by the Security Council through its six dedicated resolutions on conflict-related sexual violence is prevention. We owe survivors more than solidarity; we owe them a life of dignity and effective and decisive action to prevent and eradicate these crimes,” concluded Pramila Patten.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ms. Géraldine Boezio, Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict
Tel: +1 917 367 3306 Email: geraldine.boezio@un.org
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