Breaking the Cycle of Sexual Violence in Conflict

The United Nations reported a 50 percent increase in verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence from 2022 to 2023.  It is clear that everyone in the international community must do more to prevent and respond to all forms of gender-based violence, including by promoting access to immediate and long-term comprehensive services and fully funding and making accessible survivor-centered humanitarian assistance.  We owe it to victims and survivors to support trauma-informed approaches to justice and accountability, including transitional justice measures.  We must hold perpetrators accountable and condemn sexual violence wherever and whenever it occurs, and we must prevent conflict-related sexual violence and address the root causes, including gender equity and inequality and discriminatory norms, that lead to gender-based violence.

This International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the United States recommits to working with the international community to prevent, punish, and end conflict-related sexual violence.  The challenge is immense, but it is critical that we work together as a global community to put survivors front and center and break the cycle of conflict.