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.
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For more than a year, we have all borne witness to the catalogue of cruelty arising from this conflict, which has triggered the most massive violations of human rights in the world today, as documented by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
Tragically, victims of conflict-related sexual violence have ranged in age from four to over 80 years. Sexual violence has been deployed as a form of torture and inhumane and degrading treatment, against both civilians and prisoners of war. Women and girls have been raped in their own homes or have been forcibly taken to unoccupied dwellings and subjected to sexual assault. Rape has been committed in front of family members, to inflict maximum trauma and humiliation. In some cases, the husbands or partners of victims have been killed. In addition, the risk of trafficking has been exacerbated by the deteriorating humanitarian situation and mass displacement. Nearly one-third of the population has been forced to flee their homes, with the vast majority of them being women and girls. War presents an opportunity for predators and traffickers, and women and girls face heightened risks of abuse and exploitation with every step they take.
The frontlines have shifted continuously, with humanitarian access often being restricted or denied in areas occupied by Russian armed forces. The ongoing conflict and prevailing insecurity have meant that gender-based violence and reproductive health services are least available, just when they are needed most. Attacks on healthcare facilities, including hospitals and maternity wards, are inhumane, illegal, and unacceptable. The challenges to monitoring and verifying cases in Ukraine mirror those encountered in other conflict settings – in particular, the lack of access to services, and the layers of stigma, shame, and fear that inhibit reporting and conceal these crimes. Sexual violence is a chronically underreported crime globally. Indeed, humanitarian service providers estimate that for every rape reported to a clinic, 10 to 20 go unreported and unaddressed. Reported cases thus represent only a fraction of actual violations. It is against this backdrop that I continue to advocate for a safe and conducive environment for victims to report and for frontline NGOs to operate. The work of women’s NGOs in providing mobile clinics and counseling services is crucial, given the reticence of many survivors to come forward.
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On my recent visit to Lviv, just few days ago, I saw essential civilian infrastructure reduced to rubble. The war has also left invisible scars, with millions at risk of acute traumatic stress. During my visit, I met with the national authorities, frontline civil society actors, and survivors, as part of my mandate to strengthen and cohere the UN system response in support of national efforts. Together with survivors’ networks, we discussed concrete measures to ensure gender-responsive, trauma-informed approaches, that prioritize the rights, needs, and aspirations of survivors, in all their diversity, not as passive beneficiaries, but as rights-holders, stakeholders, and the co-creators of solutions.
In May 2022, I visited Kyiv and Lviv, because I could not watch passively from my office here in New York as harrowing testimonies of rape, gang-rape, and sexualized torture continued to surface. This visit resulted in the signing of a Framework of Cooperation with the Government, on behalf of the United Nations system. This follows the operational methodology of my mandate, which recognizes that we, as the United Nations, can support, but can never supplant, the primary responsibility of States to protect their populations. The Framework includes five critical areas of focus, namely: justice and accountability; reparations; comprehensive services for survivors; strengthening the capacity of the security and defense sector to prevent sexual violence; and mitigating the risks of conflict-driven trafficking in persons for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
I wish to commend the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, H.E. Olga Stefanishyna, who, with the support of the Commissioner for Gender Equality, Ms. Levchenko, convened the Ministries of Justice, Defence, Interior, Health, and Social Services, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the Office of the Ombudsman, to ensure a “whole-of-government” approach. Through a consultative process with civil society and survivors’ networks, co-led by my Office, an implementation plan was developed, which translates the objectives of the Framework into tangible actions and outcomes. This will remain a “living” document, in order to ensure agile programming that keeps pace with a fluid, fast-changing environment.
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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The resilience and fortitude shown by the people of Ukraine, in the face of appalling violence, has left the world in awe.
Protecting civilians must remain the top priority. The Ukrainian authorities are leading efforts to ensure access to justice, and to establish hubs for service provision, in partnership with frontline civil society actors and the United Nations. These measures offer a glimmer of hope, as does the fact that the international community mobilized so rapidly and decisively to offer its support. Indeed, never before has sexual violence – war’s oldest, most silenced, and least-condemned crime – been taken so seriously from the outset of a crisis, rather than being relegated to an afterthought. This has given rise to unprecedented international attention and action, which must be sustained.
Nonetheless, the ultimate goal of my mandate is not a “war without rape”, but a world without war. No amount of protection or assistance is a substitute for peace. I therefore echo the calls of the United Nations Secretary-General for the war in Ukraine to end – now. All of us gathered here must scale-up our efforts to deliver redress, while also striving for peace and justice to prevent further atrocities, in order to meet our moral obligation to the survivors and those at continued risk.
Thank you.