The violence of war and conflict impacts women and girls in distinct, gender based ways. Abduction, rape, forced prostitution and sexual trafficking are tragically common tactics of war today. To raise awareness of this the UN initiated the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2015. The day is marked on 19 June.
Women and girls in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tigray, Yemen and now Ukraine are affected by sexual violence in conflict. Read more in the 2021 UN report, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/auto-draft/SG-Report2021for-web.pdf
XXX is 14 years old and lives in Kabul, Afghanistan… while visiting a cousin she was drugged and woke up in a house she didn’t recognize. That night, the military commander and his four sons came into the room where she was being held. They tied her up, drugged her again, and when she woke up, she realized she had been gang raped. She was continuously raped over a period of six days. When she cried or shouted, she was told she would be killed if she resisted. She was also violently assaulted during and after the rapes (In Their Own Words: Survivors of Conflict Related Violence)
Rape and sexual assault are considered war crimes and a breach of international humanitarian law. For too long, failure to invest the appropriate resources to support women survivors of sexual violence have failed because of funding shortfalls and lack of political will. The 2021 UN report states that impunity for crimes of conflict-related sexual violence remains all too common. The pace of justice for women remains painfully slow.
Please send a letter to the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA
Dear Prime Minister
With Women in Black I appeal to the British Government to increase funding for the UKs Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and support for the MURAD initiative to support the global code of conduct to improve information-gathering from survivors of sexual violence in conflicts.
The British Government must also ensure safe passage for women and girl refugees from areas of war and conflict. They must be given all the medical, psychological and legal support they need to bring healing and justice to their lives.
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Women in Black hold vigils every Wednesday between 6-7 pm at the Edith Cavell Statue, opposite the door of the National Portrait Gallery, St.Martin’s Place, London WC2. Our vigils are silent, women-only and if possible we wear black. We welcome all women who support our call for an end to militarism and war. Contact us: Twitter @WIB_London FB @womeninblack.london http://london.womeninblack.org/
Donations for leaflets most welcome