UN.- Sexual violence in armed conflicts increases by 25% in 2024 compared to the previous year

MADRID, 14 (EUROPA PRESS)

Sexual violence in armed conflicts has increased by 25 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the annual report published this Thursday by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, which warns that the highest number of cases has taken place in several African countries.

La ONU ha señalado que agentes estatales y no estatales han perpetrado violencia sexual como táctica de guerra, tortura, terrorismo y represión política against more than 4,600 survivors, despite the fact that “these alarming figures do not reflect the scale and global prevalence of these crimes.”

However, it has considered that this report – which covers 21 countries for which verified information is available – “reveals the seriousness and brutality of this scourge, with the highest number of cases being recorded in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, Somalia and South Sudan.

Victims include women, girls, men, boys, people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, racial and ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities, ranging in age from one to 75 years old. However, the majority of victims (92 percent) are women.

In many cases, extreme physical violence has accompanied sexual attacks, with reports of summary executions following rape. Furthermore, entrenched stigma has resulted in socioeconomic exclusion and impoverishment of survivors and their children, many of whom were born as a result of rape.

Non-state armed groups have used sexual violence to consolidate control over territories and natural resources, and to perpetuate extremist ideologies. The proliferation and wide availability of small arms and light weapons have continued to fuel sexual violence in most contexts.

On the other hand, mass displacement and food insecurity have exposed women and girls to increased risk of sexual violence, while kidnappings and human trafficking during conflicts for the purposes of slavery and sexual exploitation have also increased.

The international organization has regretted that in many cases the victims have not been able to access health professionals within 72 hours after the rape. As a result, survivors, particularly women and girls, face devastating consequences for salud y no pueden acceder a la atención sanitaria sexual y reproductiva, la salud mental, la asistencia jurídica ni el apoyo para la subsistencia.