Multiple breeding grounds for sexual, gender based violence: Op-ed

Rape is being used in conflict as a deliberate military strategy, and is feared most by women and girls when the shooting starts.

They are right to be afraid. It is vital to highlight just how shockingly common rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence have become in humanitarian settings worldwide.

Conflict-related sexual violence is on the rise globally - in a report of the U.N. Secretary General to the U.N. Security Council, 49 global parties were noted as being credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict in 2021.

The testimony of this woman from Central Equatoria in South Sudan is unfortunately all too familiar. Attacked by soldiers in her own home, she told how, "After one man bit me, another pointed the gun directly on my chest and said if I don't accept them then he will kill me." As this human right violation played out, the woman's terrified children were nearby.

Sexual and gender-based violence flourishes whenever armed conflict occurs, because fear, chaos and confusion provide perfect cover for the perpetrators. Conflicts exacerbate gender inequalities that disproportionally affect women and girls worldwide. Conflicts and natural disasters break up families, displace women, children, and adolescents, and force them into refugee camps and other unsafe settings, where they are far more likely to experience gender-based violence and are extremely vulnerable to physical, sexual, and psychological harm. For instance, violence against women and girls accounted for 97 percent of conflict-related sexual violence cases reported in 2021.

A review of 19 studies across 14 countries estimated that approximately 21 percent...