Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Just 19 years ago, Rwandan women were forced to endure inhuman and degrading atrocities. Many were raped and left for dead. Among those who survived, many were infected with incurable diseases; some were made pregnant; many suffered the humiliation of having been abused in front of their families. And yet, the women of Rwanda refused to be defined or defeated by their ordeals.

It is time, in our view, for the world to move beyond expressions of outrage and, instead, to make concrete and measurable progress towards a world where the bodies of women are no longer considered a battlefield.

It is a broken society that fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens from sexual violence. The proliferation of such violence is a sure sign of State failure. As such, any society hoping to move beyond crisis and conflict cannot hope to do so until it has corrected its course with respect to the treatment and prevention of sexual violence.

In response to the Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women and Girls campaign, initiated in 2010, Rwanda hosted an international conference on the role of security organs in ending violence against women and girls. The conference endorsed a declaration and subsequently formed a secretariat to monitor its implementation.

In conflict settings and, more specifically, those driven by genocide ideology, as my country experienced in 1994, rape and sexual assault are used to punish, humiliate and dehumanize victims, their families and communities. Far from being random acts of brutality, the systematic sexual victimization of women and girls in conflict settings is now well understood as a crime against humanity that demands the urgent attention of the world.

In addition, Rwanda is the leading contributor from Africa of female police and correctional officers to United Nations peace support and peacekeeping missions. Among other duties, those officers actively contribute to combating and raising awareness about violence against women. They also serve as advisers on gender-based violence and share best practices with officers and local authorities.

Impunity breeds and rewards criminality and violence. Only by insisting on justice and by fighting impunity has Rwanda been able to achieve meaningful reconciliation within our borders. The eradication of sexual violence in conflict will not be possible as long as perpetrators are able to escape accountability for their actions.

I cannot end without calling upon the international community, non-governmental organizations, civil society, faith-based organizations and other non-State actors operating in affected areas to support the genuine reporting and investigation of sexual crimes.

As expressed during the discussion on the prevention of conflict in Africa earlier this week (see S/PV.6946), Rwanda takes the firm view that lasting peace and security, and therefore the safety of women and girls, are possible only when nations, supported by regional and international bodies, address the root causes of conflict. The degradation of women and girls as part of conflict is unacceptable in any form under any circumstances.

Rwanda recommends that the problem of sexual violence be addressed directly as part of any post- conflict or peacebuilding process. That should include United Nations-sponsored peace negotiations and security sector reform processes or be part of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.