The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramilla Patten, expected in Israel on Sunday, denounced a “very disturbing” trend of this “invisible, cheap and effective weapon of war” in Nice on Thursday.
“The 2022 report paints a very disturbing picture of sexual violence used as tactics, torture, terrorism or political repression,” Ms Patten said at the opening of a conference on the issue.
And although legal instruments now exist at all levels around the world, the 2023 report, to be debated in April, shows “the same trends”.
Last year, the UN representative led missions to Ukraine, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
She will travel to Israel on Sunday “to gather the facts surrounding the allegations of sexual violence during the Hamas attack on October 7th,” she said: “And we will also speak with the Palestinian Authority and various leaders in the occupied West discuss “bank,” she said.
It will be accompanied by experts and must meet “survivors, witnesses and other people affected by sexual violence” as well as “hostages and recently released prisoners,” the United Nations announced in early January.
The United Nations has been accused of reacting too slowly to the rape and sexual violence that Israel accused Hamas of on October 7th.
This unprecedented attack claimed around 1,140 lives, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on the Israeli toll. About 250 people were kidnapped, including about a hundred who have since been released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Islamist movement's health ministry, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and launched a massive military operation that killed 25,700 Palestinians, the vast majority women, children and teenagers.
Ms Patten attended a conference organized by the University of the Côte d'Azur and Bibliothèques sans Frontières (BSF) on Thursday.
More than 10 years ago, this NGO developed mobile and modular media libraries for isolated target groups. Through working with refugees, the NGO realized that offering entertainment to children opens up space for care for mothers.
Thanks to a partnership with the United Nations, BSF has equipped around fifteen of its media libraries, currently deployed in Ukraine and Afghanistan, with modules designed to collect women's words and then offer them legal tools and support.