Statements

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, We gather here today to cast a spotlight on national and international efforts to address conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine, amid mounting security and humanitarian challenges, destruction, and devastation. ~~~ For more than a year, we have all borne witness to the catalogue of cruelty arising from this conflict, which has [...]

A year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this brutal war continues to take an extraordinary toll – thousands of civilians killed or wounded; thousands more subjected to forced deportation; millions forced to flee their homes; men subjected to sexualized torture in detention; the bodies of women and girls used as part of the battlefield [...]

I am grateful for the opportunity to be on this panel and to share with you my insight on the heart-wrenching video that you will see shortly on the plight of women and girls who become pregnant as a result of conflict-related sexual violence, and of the children born of such violence. I was in [...]

The costs of lawlessness are self-evident globally in terms of impunity for crimes of sexual violence in conflict. The need for justice is profound. During every field mission, survivors demand justice at home. Acts of sexual violence committed during periods of conflict are, first and foremost, crimes against the individual survivor and as such, must [...]

Excellencies, Distinguished participants, We gather here at this global conference in the shared conviction that sexual violence – even in the midst of war – is preventable, not inevitable. The survivors I have met in warzones around the world have repeatedly told me: “what happened to me could have been prevented”, and “no one else [...]

La très honorable Michaëlle Jean, 27e gouverneure générale du Canada et chancelier émérite de l'Université d'Ottawa, L'honorable Michèle Audette, sénatrice, Sénat du Canada, Monsieur Jacques Frémont, recteur et vice-chancelier de l'Université d'Ottawa, Madame Jacqueline O’Neill, ambassadrice pour les femmes, la paix, et la sécurité, affaires mondiales Canada, Vices-rectrices et vice-recteurs, Madame Annick Bergeron, secrétaire-générale, Doyennes [...]

Votre Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc, Votre Altesse Royale la Grande-Duchesse, Altesses Royales, Madame la maire de Biarritz, Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs : Nous nous réunissons ici ce soir pour montrer notre solidarité avec les survivantes et survivants de violences sexuelles vivant dans l'ombre de la guerre, et avec toutes celles et ceux qui travaillent pour [...]

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I arrive here in Addis Ababa directly from Guinea, Conakry – with heavy heart, yet hopeful. Last Wednesday I attended the long-awaited opening of the trials of former military and civilian officials related to the 28 September 2009 stadium massacre, where 156 people were slaughtered, and 109 women who had gathered [...]

Excellence, M. le Ministre de la Justice et des droits de l’homme,  Excellences, mesdames et messieurs les représentants  des institutions républicaines,  Excellences, mesdames et messieurs les membres du Gouvernement, Excellence M. le Bâtonnier,  Excellence, M. le Procureur de la Cour Pénale Internationale,  Excellences mesdames et messieurs les ambassadeurs et représentants de la communauté internationale,  Mesdames [...]

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the Permanent Missions of Ukraine, Germany, Estonia, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, as well as the Open Society Foundations for gathering us today to galvanize support for the strategic partnership between the Government of Ukraine and the United Nations to address conflict-related sexual [...]