Conflict-related sexual violence

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21 April 2026 (was made public on 29 May 2026)

Note: Excerpts of the report related to the Question of Palestine are reproduced here; footnotes and hyperlinks have been omitted but are available in the original report attached as a PDF.

S/2026/321

Distr.: General
21 April 2026
Original: English

Report of the Secretary-General

I. Introduction

1. The present report, which covers January to December 2025, is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2467 (2019), in which the Council requested me to report annually on the implementation of resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013), and to recommend strategic actions. The report does not make any legal determination regarding the existence of armed conflicts under international law, nor does it prejudge the legal status of any non- State actors mentioned.

2. Cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations in 2025 rose sharply from 2024, marked by extreme brutality, and overwhelmingly targeted women and girls. Drawing on dedicated expertise, notably women’s protection advisers, the present report provides insights into the drivers and consequences of such violence. Yet, even as United Nations monitoring and response efforts continued, escalating and protracted conflicts, restricted humanitarian access and a backlash against women’s human rights severely constrained this work. Simultaneously, expenditure linked to rising militarization strained national budgets, while acute funding cuts to United Nations entities hollowed out assistance to survivors, shuttering women and girls’ safe spaces and reducing services. These cuts weakened State capacity to prevent, investigate and respond to conflict-related sexual violence, eroding survivors’ trust in institutions. As resources dwindled and front-line responders faced targeted attacks by armed actors, survivors were left without life-saving support, with civilians at heightened risk of sexual violence.

3. At this pivotal moment, the strengthening of the prevention and response architecture established under the terms of Security Council resolution 1888 (2009), which affirmed the recognition of sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security, is essential. My Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict has continued to galvanize a global focus on the plight of survivors and mobilized United Nations system-wide support to Member States and regional organizations, guided by formal agreements and frameworks of cooperation, as well as through engagement with parties to conflict, in line with successive Security Council resolutions aimed at enhancing prevention and protection.

4. The term “conflict-related sexual violence”, as used in the present report, refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion enforced sterilization, forced marriage, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, men, girls and boys, that is directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. This link may become evident through the profile of the perpetrator, who may often be affiliated with a State or non-State armed group, including those designated as terrorist groups by the Security Council; through the profile of the victim, who may frequently be an actual or perceived member of a persecuted political, ethnic and/or religious minority, or targeted on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; or through other existing circumstances, such as a climate of impunity; cross-border consequences, such as displacement or trafficking; and/or violations of the provisions of a ceasefire agreement. The term also encompasses trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual violence and/or exploitation, when committed in situations of armed conflict. It should be noted that acts of sexual exploitation and abuse that may be committed by United Nations civilian and uniformed personnel and implementing partners do not fall within the purview of this report (see A/80/644).

5. While many communities are affected by the threat, occurrence or legacy of conflict-related sexual violence, the present report is focused on countries and territories for which information verified by the United Nations exists. It should be read in conjunction with the 16 previous reports, which provide a cumulative basis for the listing of 77 parties (see annex). The majority of listed parties are non -State actors, several of which are under sanctions imposed by the Security Council. All parties to conflict, including non-State armed groups, are required to adopt specific, time-bound commitments and implement action plans to prevent and address sexual violence in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions. All State actors repeatedly listed in the annexes to the reports of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence are prohibited from participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations, in accordance with Security Council resolution 2242 (2015). The effective implementation of commitments, including accountability measures and the cessation of such violence, is a key consideration for the delisting of parties.

6. The deployment of women’s protection advisers, who advise on engagement with parties to conflict and lead the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence, has been essential in ensuring the availability of timely and accurate information on this chronically underreported crime, establishing the evidence base for response. Although their deployment is mandated by the Security Council in all resolutions relating to sexual violence and relevant country – specific resolutions, these specialists are deployed in only 9 of the more than 20 settings covered in the report. As underscored by the Security Council in its resolution 2594 (2021), United Nations presences require these capabilities to support protection efforts. However, in 2025, United Nations entities faced growing challenges in sustaining monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements and the retention and timely deployment of women’s protection advisers. Deployments of women’s protection advisers in non-mission settings and regional roles have served to provide support to additional geographical situations covered by the mandate. In November, during the discussions held by the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security with women’s protection advisers (S/2025/842, annex), participants emphasized the importance of sustainable and flexible funding for timely deployment of such specialized capacity, including to offices of resident and humanitarian coordinators, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2467 (2019).

7. In 2025, the inter-agency network, United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, a coalition of 27 member entities spanning the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding pillars, continued work to prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence. Funded solely through voluntary contributions to the conflict-related sexual violence multi-partner trust fund, the network has implemented 66 projects across 22 conflict settings since 2008. In Ukraine, the network trained over 230 national healthcare providers, civil servants and case managers in trauma -informed care and survivor-centred approaches, as well as 264 legal aid specialists, thereby strengthening national systems and reinforcing survivors’ access to comprehensive care through survivor relief centres and rehabilitation services. In South Sudan, a joint project supported over 200 survivors across Juba, Bor, Yambio and Bentiu, combining trauma-informed counselling, economic empowerment and community-led protection mechanisms with a livelihoods programme, enabling survivors to establish income – generating activities ranging from farming to small-scale trade. To create safe transport networks connecting remote populations to life-saving medical, psychosocial and legal services, the survivor-led initiative, “Wheels of Change”, provided training to motorcycle taxi drivers on survivor-centred care and emergency response. At the regional level, the network convened a four-day survivor-centred action lab in the Asia-Pacific region, during which frontline responders and actors documenting sexual violence co-created tools and identified ways to enhance survivor-centred and trauma-informed responses. At the global level, the network underscored the importance of translating global commitments into local action at the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which commemorated the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. During the eightieth session of the General Assembly, the urgent needs of children born of conflict-related rape were spotlighted, and during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women
and peace and security, reparations were highlighted as critical to survivors. The network also advanced knowledge-building through a partnership with the European Commission, catalysing evidence-based approaches to prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence and developing resources on intersections with emerging and persistent challenges related to technology, trafficking in persons and arms control. In 2025, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research joined the network to strengthen technical expertise for preventing conflict-related sexual violence through arms control and disarmament. The network continued rolling out the conflict-related sexual violence prevention framework through targeted capacity – building, including the training of United Nations uniformed personnel in South Sudan, and of civil society organizations and national authorities in the Sudan. Analysis of the intersection between information and communication technologies and conflict-related sexual violence was deepened by examining how digital tools are weaponized to harass, threaten and exploit survivors through online hate speech.

8. In accordance with its mandate under Security Council resolution 1888 (2009), the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict assisted national authorities in 10 Member States to strengthen rule of law institutions and advance accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. In 2025, notable progress towards justice for survivors was achieved in several contexts. In Colombia, at the request of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, the Team conducted four expert deployments providing tailored methodological guidance with respect to Macro Case 11 on gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence and embedding specialized capacity within the Special Jurisdiction for Peace to strengthen investigations and analysis. The Team also provided support to the Office of the Attorney General in Colombia in investigating conflict-related sexual violence cases falling under the jurisdiction of ordinary courts. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Team responded rapidly to increased violence in the east of the country in the context of the Alliance Fleuve Congo/Mouvement du 23 mars (AFC/M23) crisis, deploying an expert in March 2025 for five months to support national authorities in-country, identifying severe disruption to the documentation of violations, protection and judicial access in areas under AFC/M23 control, and supporting efforts to preserve evidence. In Government-held areas, the Team worked with national judicial and police counterparts, assessing existing judicial responses and providing technical advice and support to authorities in Beni and Bunia, where specialized police units dedicated to preventing sexual violence transmitted 57 case files to prosecution authorities, between January and June. In Guinea, the Team continued to support national authorities following the 2024 verdicts in the trial concerning the massacre and mass rape of 28 September 2009; delivered training to 27 magistrates from across the country; strengthened survivors’ protection and participation throughout criminal proceedings; and facilitated the inclusion of a victim-centred approach within the reparations process, through which 185 victims of sexual violence were compensated on a prioritized basis. The Team conducted a first technical mission to the Syrian Arab Republic in August 2025 to engage with the Government on transitional justice options, complemented by extensive consultations with Syrian and international civil society organizations. Two workshops were held in Damascus for the National Commission on Transitional Justice, which was established by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic following the end of the previous Syrian regime, with the training aimed at ensuring the full range of transitional justice measures for conflict-related sexual violence, including criminal accountability, leading to a request by the Syrian authorities for the Te am’s support in 2026. In Ukraine, an expert embedded in the Office of the Prosecutor General continued advising on complex cases, while an international investigation expert was deployed to mentor national investigative bodies, including through training on survivor-centred approaches provided to the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid. An advanced capacity-building series for prosecutors, investigators, judges and legal aid providers, focused on survivor-centred investigations, was launched. In 2025, the Team initiated the conflict-related sexual violence prosecution network, a community of practice for domestic prosecutors and practitioners advancing global justice and accountability for conflict-related sexual violence through direct knowledge exchange and the development of a database of judicial cases. Requests for technical support from Member States have continued to increase, exceeding the Team’s capacity and budgetary resources.

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III. Sexual violence in conflict-affected settings

Israel and the State of Palestine

(For the purposes of the present report, the present section provides information on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which encompasses the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, as well as in Israel.)

33. In 2025, following two ceasefire deals that resulted in the release of over 50 hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, six hostages made public allegations of sexual violence. One female hostage released during the ceasefire in January 2025 made allegations of multiple instances of sexual violence. In March 2025, two female hostages who had been released in 2023 also reported sexual violence. Three male hostages released in October 2025 following the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict made further allegations of sexual violence. The United Nations was not able to verify any of these reports, given the continued denial of access by the Government of Israel to competent United Nations bodies to carry out investigations.

34. With regard to accountability for the attacks of 7 October 2023, since its listing in the annex to the previous report (S/2025/389), Hamas has not recognized any incidents of sexual violence and has not made commitments or taken measures to address violations related to sexual violence, including holding alleged perpetrators accountable. Furthermore, the United Nations has not as yet received information on indictments by the authorities in Israel for charges of sexual violence against detained Palestinians accused of involvement in the attacks.

35. In 2025, patterns of sexual violence against Palestinians detained in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory continued to be documented. The cases verified by the United Nations should be seen as indicative of incidents and patterns over multiple reporting periods rather than comprehensive, given the continued denial of access by the Government of Israel to detention settings, as well as to Gaza. Challenges to reporting sexual violence persisted, due to, inter alia, explicit threats made by Israeli armed and security forces coercing detainees not to report abuse. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), while the Comprehensive Plan resulted in the release of 1,968 Palestinians detained by the Israeli authorities, over 9,000 remained in detention, including over 4,000 detained without charges or trial or administratively detained, raising concerns of arbitrary detention. In 2025, the United Nations verified multiple incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including as a form of torture, inflicted against 14 men, 7 women, 9 boys and 1 girl from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Thirteen of these cases occurred in 2025, and 18 in 2023 and 2024. Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape. Rape and gang rape, in some cases repeated, were perpetrated against nine victims, the majority from Gaza. Perpetrators included Israeli armed and security forces, namely the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Prison Service, including the Keter special forces, and the Police Counter-Terrorism Unit (Yamam). These violations occurred primarily during detention and interrogation and across several sites, including military camps (Sde Teiman, Etzion detention centre, Majnunah camp and an unidentified base); Israel Prison Service facilities (Megiddo, Ofer, Ramla, Hasharon, Shatta, Nafha and Damon); and at an Israeli police station (Gush Etzion police station). In addition, violations were perpetrated at checkpoints and during Israeli military operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Survivors included journalists and human rights defenders. Most cases involved multiple forms of sexual violence used simultaneously and, in some cases, the violations were filmed or photographed, including one case of rape. Sexual violence against female detainees included mostly threats of rape, forced nudity, unwanted touching, and humiliating or degrading strip searches without justification, while men and boys were targeted with rape, attempted rape and violence to the genitals, resulting in five male victims suffering severe rectal bleeding or swelling for multiple days or weeks and, in some cases, without receiving medical treatment. The long-term effects of sexual violence on detainees released back to Gaza were further compounded by dire living conditions (see A/HRC/60/CRP.3). Moreover, due to the humanitarian disaster and repeated mass displacements caused by the conflict (see A/HRC/58/28), women and girls in Gaza continue to be exposed to heightened risks of sexual violence.

36. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, as well as United Nations entities, have consistently documented a systematic lack of accountability (see A/HRC/50/21, A/HRC/52/75, A/79/232, A/HRC/58/28 and A/HRC/58/CRP.6) for violations against Palestinians, perpetuating a climate of impunity. On 19 February 2025, five reserve soldiers belonging to Unit 100 of the Israel Defense Forces were indicted for severe physical assault that occurred in Sde Teiman military camp in July 2024. According to the Commission of Inquiry, despite available evidence, including video and medical reports and a detailed description of the assault which reportedly included insertion of an object in the anus resulting in severe injuries to the rectum, a charge of sexual violence or rape was absent from the indictment (A/HRC/58/CRP.6).

In March 2026, all charges were dropped. These developments risk reinforcing a climate of impunity that may enable the commission of conflict-related sexual violence.

37. Following the notice of potential listing of Israeli armed and security forces (S/2025/389, appendix), my Special Representative continued to engage with the Government of Israel and civil society. However, information related to compliance with the concrete measures set out in Security Council resolution 2467 (2019) has not been provided. To date, the Government of Israel has not granted access to competent United Nations entities for monitoring, while the provision of services and humanitarian assistance remains severely restricted. My Special Representative also continued to engage with the Palestinian Authority on support to survivors.

Recommendation

38. I reiterate my call to the Government of Israel to immediately cease all acts of sexual violence, implement time-bound commitments to address and prevent sexual violence, as outlined in Security Council resolutions 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) and 2467 (2019), and to grant unfettered access to relevant United Nations bodies to conduct investigations into all alleged violations, including conflict-related sexual violence.

39. I continue to call for accountability with due process of law for sexual violence crimes committed during the attacks of 7 October and in their aftermath and call upon Hamas to adopt measures to address sexual violence.

40. I urge the Government of Israel to ensure that Palestinian prisoners are treated in a dignified way and to investigate and prosecute all allegations of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.

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VI. Recommendations

92. The following recommendations build upon and should be read in conjunction with those presented in my previous reports.

93. I recommend that the Security Council:

(a) Call upon all parties to conflict to immediately cease all forms of conflict-related sexual violence in compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions, as applicable, and international humanitarian law; and encourage all State and non-State parties to conflict to adopt timebound commitments to prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence in line with Security Council resolutions 1888 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) and 2467 (2019), and monitor their compliance, including through the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security;

(b) Ensure that incidents of sexual violence are systematically monitored and incorporated as a stand-alone designation criterion for targeted sanctions; ensure that sanctions committees receive timely information on conflict-related sexual violence, including, as appropriate, through their expert monitoring groups and the Office of my Special Representative, as needed; and consider applying sanctions to perpetrators who have appeared in the annex to the present report for five or more years without taking remedial action, as appropriate, in line with the provisions set out in paragraph 3 of Security Council resolution 1960 (2010);

(c) Call upon parties to conflict to provide the United Nations and humanitarian actors with unhindered access to conflict-affected and occupied areas in order to reach survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in need of multisectoral assistance; and to respect and protect humanitarian and United Nations personnel, in line with Security Council resolution 2730 (2024) and international humanitarian law;

(d) Ensure that mandate authorizations and renewals of peace operations include or retain references to the deployment of women’s protection advisers; and promote the deployment of women’s protection advisers to United Nations peace operations and offices of resident and humanitarian coordinators in all relevant situations of concern, in line with Security Council resolution 2467 (2019);

(e) Request, during transitions from United Nations peacekeeping operations to special political missions and/or United Nations country teams, that mandate authorizations and planning processes integrate: dedicated operational provisions on addressing conflict-related sexual violence, including the retention and timely deployment of women’s protection advisers; specific benchmarks and indicators on addressing sexual violence within protection and peace consolidation frameworks; effective engagement with parties to conflict for timebound commitments; and support for the work of the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements, which provides a reliable information base for timely prevention, risk mitigation and protection measures;

(f) Assess the risks of violations of international law, including conflict-related sexual violence, for civilians in detention; and support access for mandated United Nations entities to conduct monitoring;

(g) Consider, under article 13 (b) of the Rome Statute, referral to the International Criminal Court in situations where sexual violence, as defined in the Statute, appears to have been committed.

94. I encourage Member States:

(a) To adopt a survivor-centred approach that prioritizes survivors’ rights, needs and aspirations; to promote an enabling environment for survivors to seek support on a non-discriminatory basis, through scaled-up funding for services, including HIV prevention and treatment, sexual and reproductive healthcare, safe termination of pregnancy, psychosocial and legal services and socioeconomic reintegration;

(b) To provide dedicated contributions for the deployment of women’s protection advisers to all situations of concern; ensure an adequate number of these positions in the regular budget of peacekeeping operations, special political missions and offices of resident and humanitarian coordinators; and support national, regional and local authorities, survivors’ networks, women-led organizations, and service providers in advancing joint communiqués and/or frameworks of cooperation;

(c) To foster a gender- and age-responsive security sector through effective oversight and accountability, thereby preventing the recruitment, retention or promotion within security institutions or reserve armed forces of individuals credibly suspected of violations;

(d) To adopt gender-responsive national legislation and policies on arms control and weapons and ammunition management, in accordance with their obligations, including against transnational organized crime, illicit small arms and light weapons and conventional ammunition management in line with relevant international and regional conventions and frameworks;

(e) To strengthen accountability by adopting legislation drawing on the Model Legislative Provisions and Guidance on the Investigation and Prosecution of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, enhancing investigation, prosecution and forensic capacities through appropriate judicial mechanisms, regardless of the perpetrator’s rank or affiliation, and promoting transformative reparations.

95. I encourage all stakeholders, including Member States, donors and regional and intergovernmental organizations:

(a) To address chronic underfunding by providing predictable and sustainable financial support to the conflict-related sexual violence multi-partner trust fund that supports the work of the United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict network in delivering multisectoral services, and the work of the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict on justice and accountability;

(b) To ensure that provisions on prohibiting and addressing conflict related sexual violence are integrated into the design and implementation of peace, ceasefire or cessation of hostilities agreements, electoral monitoring arrangements, and/or subsequent agreements, and that such crimes are excluded from amnesties and statutes of limitations; and promote the full and meaningful participation of women and survivors in political, peacemaking, peacebuilding, humanitarian response and transitional justice processes;

(c) To create an enabling environment for women’s safe participation in public and political life, and establish urgent response mechanisms to address reprisals, including for cooperation with the United Nations;

(d) To support the provision of training for United Nations personnel, including those in United Nations field operations undergoing transitions and phased drawdowns, on addressing conflict-related sexual violence.

Annex: List of parties 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

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Parties in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

1. Non-State actors

Hamas.

2. State actors

Israeli armed and security forces.

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Related items:

Conflict-related sexual violence – 2026 Report of the Secretary-General (S/2026/321)