The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says that acts of sexual violence against women are crimes against humanity when they are used as weapons to inspire terror. It has defined sexual violence as any physical or mental abuse committed as an act of violence and also characterizes it as a crime of torture. Sexual crimes against women are now internationally codified.
The Belém do Pará Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women says that it is not only an offence to human dignity but also a violation of human rights. Let me speak not just about what the justice system has said, the words I have just read out. Justice in fact now says that because the victims had begun to be heard.
Sexual crimes reported by victims in their testimony were not subject to punitive action until Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, until the initiatives undertaken in our own countries, because they remained invisible. They were part of war, the spoils that came with vengeance and hate that targeted women's bodies.
Secondly, there is also reason for optimism owing to the international tribunals, such as those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Today, the International Criminal Court and those tribunals have been building a clear definition of sexual violence as a war crime and as a crime against humanity. Certain countries in my region of Latin America and the Caribbean are also doing so.
I hope that all the victims will be heard, as those victims were heard and it was possible to do justice and combat impunity. We hope we will be able to work not just to eradicate this crime against humanity in conflict situations, but also to build equality for women in times of peace. Our friend Ms. Bangura has said it.
I am going to take a different angle in relation to referring to how much we have done. I am going to focus not only on what how much we still have to do, but also to add a hint of optimism. First, the international governmental community has agreed that sexual and gender-based violence inarmed conflict constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.
I am going to take a different angle in relation to referring to how much we have done. I am going to focus not only on what how much we still have to do, but also to add a hint of optimism. First, the international governmental community has agreed that sexual and gender-based violence inarmed conflict constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity.
We must undertake progressive, aggressive prevention measures and challenge societal norms that portray girls as less valuable than boys, causing them to develop low self-esteem and self-worth, thus further contributing to the cycle. We also need to prosecute perpetrators and hold them accountable for their actions in conflict-related sexual violence.
We must ensure that the cries of the people of South Sudan do not go unheard. We cannot say that we do not know; and once we know, we have no excuse — we have to act. The responsibility lies with all of us.
