Rape in Ukraine, “a military strategy” and a “deliberate trick”

UN Special Representative Pramila Bhattan believes the alleged rapes and sexual assaults by Russian forces in Ukraine are clearly “a military strategy” and a “tactic to deliberately dehumanize the victims”, condemning the “horrific cases and extremely violent brutality”.

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“All the signs are there,” Ms. Patton was questioned by AFP in Paris about rape as a weapon of war in Ukraine.

“When women and girls are abducted and raped for days on end, when young boys and men begin to be raped, when you see cases of genital mutilation, and when you hear the testimonies of women who seduce Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, this is evident. Military strategy. And when the victims talk about what was said during the rape, it is clear that this is a tactic to systematically and inhumanely treat the victims,” said the Mauritian lawyer.

He notes that the first cases of sexual violence emerged on February 24, “three days after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.”

He has served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General since 2017. He arrived in Paris on Thursday. Signed a partnership agreement with the NGO Library Without Borders to support sexuality. Violence in times of conflict.

The UN has verified “more than a hundred cases of rape and sexual assault” in Ukraine since the war began, but “it’s not a question of numbers,” Ms. Button insists. “Violence is a silent crime, underreported and least condemned,” he says, underscoring the fear of retribution and stigmatization. “Reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg.”

Victims are primarily women and girls, but men and boys as well, says a UN official, citing a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (created by a UN Security Council resolution) at the end of September. The report “confirmed crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces, and according to the evidence collected, the age of the victims of sexual violence varies from 4 years to 82 years. There are many cases of sexual violence against children of rape, torture and abduction,” he underlined.

“My fight against sexual violence is really a fight against impunity”, repeats Pramila Patton, and “this is the reason I went to Ukraine (last May, editor’s note): to send a loud signal to the victims, tell them we are with them and ask them to break the silence. But Send a strong signal to rapists that the world is watching them, and raping a woman or a girl, a man or a boy will not be without consequences”.

Rape is a weapon of war in all conflicts, from Bosnia to Guinea or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but Ms. According to Patton, the war in Ukraine represents an international “awakening”. “There is now a political will to fight against impunity, and there is a consensus today that rape is being used as a military tactic, a tactic of terror”, he analysed.

“Is it because it’s happening in the center of Europe? The answer may lie there,” he adds, hoping Ukraine won’t overshadow other conflicts.

“I see very positive this attention to the issue of conflict-related sexual violence, which is usually always considered inevitable, collateral damage, a cultural issue… but no, it’s criminal,” he asserts.

Another major concern of the UN representative is the risk of human trafficking.

“Women, girls and children who have left Ukraine are very vulnerable, and what is happening to poachers in this country is not a tragedy, it is an opportunity. Human trafficking is an invisible crime, but it is a huge crisis,” he warned.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, more than 7.6 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered as refugees across Europe.