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What is the problem?
Sexual violence used as a tactic of war is uniquely destructive. It leaves victims with a heavy burden of physical and psychological harm for the rest of their life. Beyond the individual, it damages families and entire communities. By committing conflict-related sexual violence in public, or by coercing family and community members either to witness or take part in atrocities, these crimes impact the whole community, destroying social bonds and relationships. Used as a tactic of war, sexual violence aims to demoralise a community or a whole ethnic group, destroying their resilience and ability to rebuild and recover.
Global Network
Together with the Global Network of Victims and Survivors of Wartime Sexual Violence (SEMA), we fight for a world where sexual violence is no longer used in conflict, and where States hold other States to account, and meet their international obligations by taking concrete actions to prevent, respond to, and repair the grave harms sexual violence causes.
SEMA issues the Survivors’ Call to Action not only to seek improvements in their own lives, but to prevent similar violence from happening to others at risk today and in the future.
