Note: A complete summary of today's Security Council open debate on women, peace and security will be made available after its conclusion.
Point of Order
MARIA ZABOLOTSKAYA (Russian Federation) expressed her reservation regarding the participation of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict in the meeting. Recalling that the Special Representative stated that Russian Federation soldiers were supposedly given Viagra so they could rape Ukrainian women, she said that the Special Representative admitted she had no reliable information about this in a leaked recording. Thus, the Special Representative was abusing her position and disseminating false information regarding a Member State.
Briefings
PRAMILA PATTEN, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, briefed the Council on the Secretary-General's latest report (document S/2023/413). The world is facing the highest number of conflicts since the Second World War, while the number of people forced to flee their homes has reached a record 110 million. Rising militarization and arms proliferation are bringing conflicts across the globe to a boiling point, creating the conditions for unimaginable and unrelenting cruelty. Gang rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence are being used as tactics of war, torture and terrorism. Further, new threats have emerged from the largely ungoverned digital space, climate-related insecurity and displacement have exacerbated competition for scarce resources, and in turn, intercommunal violence - including sexual violence - has increased. "Every new wave of warfare brings with it a rising tide of human tragedy, including new waves of war's oldest, most silenced and least condemned crime," she stressed.
"The singular focus of this Council must be to bridge the gap between resolutions and realities, between our highest aspirations and operations on the ground," she continued. The report provides a global snapshot of trends in conflict-related sexual violence across 20 situations of concern, and records 2,455 United Nations-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed in 2022. Women and girls account for 94 per cent of such cases, and children represent 32 per cent of verified incidents - with girls making up 97 per cent of those. However, the report does not purport to reflect the global scale or prevalence of this chronically underreported and historically hidden crime, she pointed out, noting that many women are silenced by social pressures, stigma, insecurity and the paucity of services.
She went on to highlight that the Democratic Republic of the Congo again presents the highest number of cases, with 701 instances of conflict-related sexual violence. Detailing her June visit to that country, she described how women and girls must choose between economic subsistence and sexual violence, between their livelihoods and their lives. She also recalled her field visits to Ukraine - where she heard accounts of brutal sexual violence reportedly perpetrated by Russian Federation soldiers -reiterating the Secretary-General's call on Moscow to undertake prevention measures in line with the Council's resolutions. Drawing attention to the harrowing experiences of women in Haiti, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Iraq, she stressed: "The reality is that, until we effectively raise the cost and consequences for committing, commanding or condoning sexual violence, we will never stem the tide of such violations."
Underscoring the need for greater coherence between the Secretary-General's listing and the targeted measures imposed by the Organization's Sanctions Committees, she pointed out that sanctions - if applied in a timely, consistent manner - can change the calculus that rape is "cost-free", or even profitable. The way forward calls for gender-responsive justice and security-sector reform, strengthened, multisectoral services for survivors, a curtailed flow of small arms and light weapons, and political and diplomatic engagements to address sexual violence in ceasefire and peace agreements. "We must ensure implementation of Council resolutions while adapting our actions to today's conflicts and emerging global challenges," she stressed, underscoring the need to bolster the institutional and accountability frameworks put in place by successive resolutions. "We must act urgently, and with sustained resolve, to save succeeding generations from this scourge," she underscored.
NAW HSER HSER of the Women's League of Burma said that her civil society coalition represents women from across Myanmar. It has been more than two years since the military coup in that country, and more than 23,000 civilians have been arrested while more than 1.8 million have been displaced. Women and girls face greater risks of sexual violence, she said. However, despite these risks, women are at the forefront of resistance to military rule, accounting for 60 per cent of pro-democracy human rights defenders and providing essential services to victims of displacement and sexual violence. "We must not only end military rule, but also challenge patriarchal oppression," she stressed, noting that women human rights defenders face enormous challenges. Arrest warrants have been issued for staff of her organization, and many of these women are either in hiding or - like her - forced to leave the country to continue their important work.
Rape and sexual violence were hallmarks of the military's 2017 genocide of the Rohingya, she recalled, reporting that her organization has documented more than 100 cases of conflict-related sexual or gender-based violence since the military coup. In one case, a woman was raped at gunpoint in front of her husband, and in another, a seven-month-pregnant woman was raped by junta soldiers. Further, women and LGBTQI persons are targeted, with thousands of women arrested - 15 of whom have been sentenced to death due to their pro-democracy activities. Urging the Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, she pointed out that the military needs three things to sustain itself: arms, money and international legitimacy. The Council should therefore impose an arms embargo, and the international community should enact targeted sanctions against the military and its proxies, including the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.
She also urged the international community to reject the elections to be held under military rule - which can be neither free nor fair - stressing that such polls will not lay the groundwork for democracy. She implored the Council to keep Myanmar on the agenda and hold public meetings on the situation in her country so that civil society can participate. Local women's organizations need support to continue their important work. "This is an important moment for Myanmar," she said, noting that people are united for the first time to create a democratic country that respects diversity and plurality. The Council should demand that the international community take meaningful action not only in Myanmar, she added, but also in all conflict situations - including Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.
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