2023-06-18 04:26:41
Each year there are an average of 900 confirmed cases of sexual violence against children in conflict around the world. Over 14,000 cases were documented by the United Nations from 2005 to 2020. “However, the number of unreported cases is significantly higher because many sexual assaults go unreported,” says Boris Breyer, spokesman for SOS Children’s Villages worldwide.
What does sexual violence mean?
Sexual violence in conflict zones is officially a war crime and includes rape, forced prostitution, marriage, pregnancy, sterilization, abortion and slavery. A large proportion of the victims are girls and women (up to 97 percent according to the UN report), but boys and men are also affected. Six percent of all women worldwide have suffered sexual violence from someone they do not know.
Every third child at risk
According to UN reports in 2019, almost one in three children worldwide is in a conflict-affected country where sexual violence is used as a weapon. In about 70 percent of the conflict zones in which sexual violence was perpetrated against civilians, children were also among the victims.
Countries with the most cases
In the past seven years, sexual violence has been used as a weapon mainly in conflicts in the following countries: Somalia, Somaliland, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Colombia, Yemen, Mali. Ukraine has also been on this list since 2022: According to UN reports, Russian soldiers are said to have raped Ukrainian civilians. Main goal: expulsion and demonstration of power.
There are said to be thousands of victims, hundreds have filed complaints and around 150 (as of March 2023) have testified in court since the beginning of the war. Many do not report them out of fear or shame. “Many also just want to leave what happened behind them and not keep it continuously present in processes lasting months or years. A lack of money is also a reason why many cannot afford a lawyer,” explains Breyer.
In Bosnia, the social center of the SOS Children’s Villages offers prevention courses for girls. Photo: SOS Children’s Villages Bosnia and Herzegovina
Decades of trauma
Although the war there was almost three decades ago, the process of coming to terms with it is not over yet. “The physical wounds have healed and people have returned to their everyday lives, but the mental scars and horrific memories have remained,” said Breyer. The SOS Children’s Villages have been active in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1994 and support, among other things, women and children with psychological help and prevention courses. What many forget: For the victims of a rape, the actual act is only part of the tragedy. They are often traumatized and carry with them physical and emotional pain and shame. “In some countries – like in Bosnia – the topic was taboo for a long time,” says Breyer. “It took so much strength for the women to confide in someone. In the end, it took decades before Bosnian legislation recognized rape as a war crime and women were able to receive compensation as ‘civilian war victims’. Respect for the courage of the women living in testified in The Hague and who are still fighting for the rights of raped women.”
Legal situation of sexual violence in war
In 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague had already ruled “that rape in connection with acts of war constitutes a violation of the Geneva Conventions. In 2008 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1820, which stipulates that “rape and other forms of sexual violence may constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or an act qualifying as genocide”.
preventive measures
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sexual assaults occur on a daily basis, especially in the border areas. The SOS Children’s Villages provide medical and psychosocial support on site and help to report suspected perpetrators. Those affected are being assisted by a team of lawyers so that criminal prosecution is initiated.
The SOS Children’s Villages also do educational work in the communities to prevent sexual assaults. This is also the case in the crisis countries of the Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Somalia to protect children from sexual violence.
Reproductive Rights
Kidnapping, forced prostitution, child marriage, genital mutilation and forced abortion or pregnancy are counted among the war crimes of sexual violence. “These atrocities violate human rights and also deprive the victims of their right to self-determination,” says Breyer.
Girls and women are often deprived of their reproductive rights. The current example of the war in Russia shows: “Violent Ukrainian women on the run who, for example, asked for the abortion pill immediately after the crime, often did not receive it in time or not at all. So, in addition to the actual trauma, they also have to deal with the fact that possibly carrying a child of their tormentor or having to have an abortion.” According to Breyer, there must be quick and unbureaucratic solutions for the victims. Another impact of the war: the number of births in Ukraine fell by 30 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year. Added to this is the increase in miscarriages due to the stress and lack of medical care in the exceptional state of war.
Help from SOS Children’s Villages worldwide
In SOS Children’s Villages around the world, children and women who have been victims of sexual violence are supported. There are also children in the care of the aid organization, “whose mothers became pregnant as a result of a rape. They give their child away because the presence keeps reminding them of the traumatic experience,” explains Breyer. The SOS programs also include educational work and preventive measures. “The goal is that not a single child has to experience violence anymore. We have to protect the children even better!”
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