Survivors of sexual violence in war and conflict are abandoned worldwide
2023-12-13
Our Director Laila Ait Baali and Program Manager Gender, Peace and Security Anne-Floor Dekker wrote an opinion article for the Volkskrant about consistent lack of attention to and action against sexual violence as a weapon in conflict and war.
Sexual violence is sometimes deliberately used as a weapon of war to dehumanize, destabilize and even "peoplesize" opponents. But most countries do not have an adequate legal system to recognize and investigate these war crimes.
For the past week, stories of rapes of Israeli women by Hamas fighters have been international news. Israel's UN ambassador recently stated that there had been signs of these war crimes since the day of the attack on Oct. 7. He blamed the international community for looking away from the sexual violence inflicted on Israeli women.
Various media then brought in experts to explain how it was possible that the sexual violence was only now receiving attention. They concluded what many women's organisations have known for years: sexual violence as a weapon of war is not a priority.
