Human Wrongs Watch
(United Nations)* — “Sexual violence is a grotesque tactic of war, used to brutalize, torture, and repress, scarring bodies, minds and entire communities, warned the UN Secretary General António Guterres on the occasion of the 19 June 2025 International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
“The horror of these heinous crimes echoes long after the guns fall silent.
Too often, perpetrators walk free, cloaked in impunity, while survivors often bear the impossible burden of stigma and trauma.
The pain does not end with them. It stretches across lifetimes, ravaging generations of families, and forces the inherited legacy of trauma and suffering on the descendants of survivors.
The focus of this year is the deep and lasting intergenerational wounds of conflict-related sexual violence. To break the cycle, we must confront the horrors of the past, support the survivors of today, and protect future generations from the same fate.
That means ensuring safe access to vital, survivor-centered and trauma-informed services; delivering justice and holding perpetrators to account; and listening to – and amplifying – the vital voices of survivors.”
Breaking the Cycle, Healing the Scars: Addressing the Intergenerational Effects of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
On the occasion of the World Day, the United Nations warned that “Conflict-related sexual violence is a war crime, a crime against humanity and a constituent act of genocide under international law, posing threats to individual and collective security and hindering lasting peace.
Its impacts are far-reaching, causing physical and psychological trauma, stigma, and poverty that can affect survivors and their families for generations.
In some communities, survivors may face ostracization, which limits their access to vital social support and healing resources.
Additionally, the consequences can be magnified if pregnancies result from such violence, potentially leading to further societal rejection of children born in these circumstances.
This form of violence is often connected to other wartime atrocities, including the abduction and recruitment of individuals into armed groups.
A frontal attack to social cohesion
Conflict-related sexual violence undermines social cohesion by destroying community bonds and leaving lasting trauma for survivors and their families.
Many survivors remain silent due to fear of reprisals, lack of support, and the stigma placed on them instead of the perpetrators.”
Online Exhibition: A conflict-Related Sexual Violence Survivor’s Journey to Healing
*SOURCE: the United Nations. Go to ORIGINAL: https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-sexual-violence-in-conflict-day
2025 Human Wrongs Watch
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Baher Kamal
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
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