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Covid facilitates the impunity of sexual violence

Sexual violence during conflicts is a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and repression, that reverberates from generation to generation and threatens both human and international safety.

 

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, survivors of sexual abuse during conflicts face new challenges when reporting crimes and accessing support services, warned UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

In his message for the International Day of the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, he emphasised that the health crisis poses new obstacles for these victims.

The turmoil caused by Covid-19 makes it even more difficult to hold perpetrators of sexual violence accountable, he warned.

According to Guterres, even as we respond to the pandemic, we must investigate every case and maintain essential services for each of the survivors.

“We cannot allow such crimes to slip further into the shadows, the perpetrators have to be punished”, the Portuguese diplomat said in a statement.

In fact, he insisted, investment in the recovery from the health crisis must address the underlying causes of sexual and gender-based violence. In this sense, he expressed his commitment to defend the rights and meet the needs of every survivor, while work is carried out to prevent and put an end to these horrible crimes. Sexual violence during conflicts is a cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and repression, that reverberates from generation to generation and threatens both human and international safety, he outlined. (PL)

(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay

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