IN POST-CONFLICT LIBERIA, 87% OF CHILDREN HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME FORM OF SEXUAL VIOLATION.
UNICEF Press Centre: Media advisory: Addressing sexual violence is life-saving, not optional.
In many war zones worldwide, sexual violence is as devastating to children’s and women’s lives as bullets and bombs, putting hundreds of millions of children and women at increased risk of rape and abuse. The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict has the opportunity to focus on prevention, push for care and support for survivors, and to help end the culture of impunity surrounding such crimes by galvanizing international action.
“Sexual violence is the weapon of war that ceases to die. It is a global tragedy that destroys the lives of the women, girls and boys who are raped and abused. Sexual violence during conflict also engrains itself into society, so that when war is over it continues alone, causing unbearable suffering. Programs that prevent sexual violence are life-saving. This has to be recognized. To have results though they have to be implemented within the whole response package as soon as conflict hits.” said Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection.
Sexual Violence in Conflict: The Statistics
• More than 150 million young girls and 73 million boys experience sexual violence every year. Children in conflicted-affected countries are the most vulnerable.
• In the most recent conflict in South Sudan, rape has been used by both sides of the conflict during fighting.
• Around 40% of Congolese women are believed to have been subjected to some form of sexual violence at some point in their lives.
• A survey of rape survivors in South Kivu region, DRC revealed that 91% suffered from one or several rape-related illnesses including tissue tears in the vagina, bladder and rectum.
• In post-conflict Liberia UNICEF estimates that a staggering 87% of children have experienced some form of sexual violence and 65% of rape survivors are under 15 years old.
• Recent estimates in Kenya – where local conflicts are frequent - show that approximately one in three women and one in five men experienced sexual violence in their childhood. • In Cote d’Ivoire, one in ten women (9.9%) reported that they were forced to have sex by a non-partner since the age of 15, more than one in eight (14.8%) reported their first sexual experience was forced.
• During 2013 in Somalia, up to 35% of survivors of rape receiving services are girls under 12.
• In 2003, 74% of a sample of 388 Liberian refugee women living in camps in Sierra Leone reported being sexually abused prior to being displaced. During displacement, 55% experienced sexual violence.
• During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women survived rape.
• In the early 1990s, an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Following this mind boggling statistics and shocking revelation, the perplexing question we must now ask ourselves would be; is this something we all need to worry about? Yes! Because, it is affecting our children and every aspects of our society pushing it to its wits end. This and many more my newly published book Cybersex: A Nightmare of the 21st Century “The Rebirth of Armageddon” seeks to address by laying out the physical, mental and mental, and psychological challenges that teenagers, parents, and society at large are faced with every single day, resulting from their daily encounters with the Internet and overindulgence in the world of cybersex that transcends into the physical realms. It provides guidelines using real-life scenarios, while laying out tips and red flags on how to protect young people from sadistic sexual predators that are using the anonymity of the Internet to carry out their diabolic and heinous acts.
The time has come to put an end to this nightmare and make the world a much better place for our children and the entire human race.
In many war zones worldwide, sexual violence is as devastating to children’s and women’s lives as bullets and bombs, putting hundreds of millions of children and women at increased risk of rape and abuse. The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict has the opportunity to focus on prevention, push for care and support for survivors, and to help end the culture of impunity surrounding such crimes by galvanizing international action.
“Sexual violence is the weapon of war that ceases to die. It is a global tragedy that destroys the lives of the women, girls and boys who are raped and abused. Sexual violence during conflict also engrains itself into society, so that when war is over it continues alone, causing unbearable suffering. Programs that prevent sexual violence are life-saving. This has to be recognized. To have results though they have to be implemented within the whole response package as soon as conflict hits.” said Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection.
Sexual Violence in Conflict: The Statistics
• More than 150 million young girls and 73 million boys experience sexual violence every year. Children in conflicted-affected countries are the most vulnerable.
• In the most recent conflict in South Sudan, rape has been used by both sides of the conflict during fighting.
• Around 40% of Congolese women are believed to have been subjected to some form of sexual violence at some point in their lives.
• A survey of rape survivors in South Kivu region, DRC revealed that 91% suffered from one or several rape-related illnesses including tissue tears in the vagina, bladder and rectum.
• In post-conflict Liberia UNICEF estimates that a staggering 87% of children have experienced some form of sexual violence and 65% of rape survivors are under 15 years old.
• Recent estimates in Kenya – where local conflicts are frequent - show that approximately one in three women and one in five men experienced sexual violence in their childhood. • In Cote d’Ivoire, one in ten women (9.9%) reported that they were forced to have sex by a non-partner since the age of 15, more than one in eight (14.8%) reported their first sexual experience was forced.
• During 2013 in Somalia, up to 35% of survivors of rape receiving services are girls under 12.
• In 2003, 74% of a sample of 388 Liberian refugee women living in camps in Sierra Leone reported being sexually abused prior to being displaced. During displacement, 55% experienced sexual violence.
• During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 women survived rape.
• In the early 1990s, an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Following this mind boggling statistics and shocking revelation, the perplexing question we must now ask ourselves would be; is this something we all need to worry about? Yes! Because, it is affecting our children and every aspects of our society pushing it to its wits end. This and many more my newly published book Cybersex: A Nightmare of the 21st Century “The Rebirth of Armageddon” seeks to address by laying out the physical, mental and mental, and psychological challenges that teenagers, parents, and society at large are faced with every single day, resulting from their daily encounters with the Internet and overindulgence in the world of cybersex that transcends into the physical realms. It provides guidelines using real-life scenarios, while laying out tips and red flags on how to protect young people from sadistic sexual predators that are using the anonymity of the Internet to carry out their diabolic and heinous acts.
The time has come to put an end to this nightmare and make the world a much better place for our children and the entire human race.
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