Silence the guns, amplify women’s voices for peace to end rape in wartime

Silence the guns, amplify women’s voices for peace to end rape in wartime

Presenting her annual report, Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, noted that weapons continue to flow into the hands of perpetrators while most victims remain emptyhanded when it comes to reparations and redress.  “The essential, existential task we face is to silence the guns and amplify the voices of women…

Read More
UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes

UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes

Citing alarming examples in Aleppo, Grozny, Mariupol, Myanmar, Sudan and Gaza, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, said an “increasingly systematic, massive and arbitrary destruction of civilian housing and infrastructure” during too many conflicts around the world is in blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws. “We have seen or are…

Read More
Philippines urged to compensate women survivors of wartime rape by Japanese soldiers

Philippines urged to compensate women survivors of wartime rape by Japanese soldiers

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) called for the authorities to provide full reparation and an official apology to the survivors, who have suffered decades of physical, psychological and other consequences.  ‘Symbolic’ victory  “This is a symbolic moment of victory for these victims who were previously silenced, ignored, written off and…

Read More