To combat rampant sexual violence, the world must listen to survivors
One in three women and girls experiences sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the UN, and this significantly increases in armed conflict and disasters
Oslo — From Congo to Ukraine, efforts to end sexual violence in conflict and humanitarian crises will fail unless they empower survivors to speak up, victims of rape and abuse said on Friday. Sexual and physical violence disproportionately affects women and girls, with one in three experiencing it in their lifetime, according to the UN — a proportion that significantly increases in armed conflict and disasters. But too often aid interventions ignore survivors' needs, and fail to provide access to vital sexual and reproductive health services, delegates heard at the UN’s first conference on ending sexual violence in humanitarian crises, in Oslo. “We know what’s been done to us, we should be the first ones involved in responding to this crime,” said Guillaumette Tsongo Kanyere, who was raped in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where multiple armed conflicts and an Ebola outbreak are raging. "We are not asking you to speak in our name but to amplify our voices," said Kanyere, a wome...
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