SGBV

We especially wish to thank Ms. Ameena Saeed Hasan and Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha for their courage and for reminding us once again today of the consequences and trauma experienced by victims of war and terrorism, in this case in one of its most perverse forms: trafficking in persons and sexual violence.

We are witnessing a tragedy that is being experienced by thousands of people, especially women and children. In addition to the horrors of armed conflict, they are victims of trafficking and sexual violence: crimes that attack human dignity in the most perverse of ways and, depending on the circumstances, constitute flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and international conventions on human rights and on transnational organized crime.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to highlight that the reasons for and causes that promote this type of crime — and the fact that extremist and terrorist groups use trafficking in persons and sexual violence as part of their strategic goals and to finance their criminal activities — have been exacerbated in recent years due to situations of armed conflict in various regions of the world, such as the Middle East and North Africa, and in particular in Iraq, Syria, Libya and the Sahel.

The report of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in armed conflicts (S/2016/361) highlighted the fact that in the past two years sexual violence has been increasingly linked to the strategic, ideological and financial objectives of extremist and terrorist groups. Venezuela recognizes that trafficking in persons and sexual violence are being used by some extremist and terrorist groups as a terror tactic and also to finance this scourge. Moreover, the enslavement and trafficking of women and children demonstrates their absolute disregard towards women and their intolerance and hatred of other races, cultures and religions. It is the clearest sign of the brutal and despicable nature of those extremist groups, which will have to be brought to justice.

That way we can effectively decrease their operational capacity and, consequently, reduce the number of various crimes related to trafficking in persons and sexual violence. Ending trafficking in persons and sexual violence in armed conflicts means being fully committed to resolving armed conflicts wherever such crimes occur.

Also, it clearly points to the need to have better strategic coordination of efforts in order to prevent trafficking in persons and sexual violence and also to confront it, in line with efforts to combat violent extremism, which could lead to terrorism.