Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICTS
STORY: UN / SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICTS
TRT: 03:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations Headquarters
23 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Pramila Patten, Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“No amount of protection, assistance or accountability after the fact – is a substitute for peace. The message of this mandate, over many years, has been clear, we must silence the guns and unmute the voices of survivors as a critical constituency for peace.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Pramila Patten, Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict:
“The figures speak for themselves. In 2023 over 170 conflicts were recorded. The number of people forced to flee war and persecution surpassed 117 million. Global military expenditure exceeded a record breaking 2.2 trillion USD and more than 612 million women and girls now leave under the shadow of conflict.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General:
“In 2015 with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, The World pledged to leave no one behind. Yet the scourge of sexual violence continues to hinder progress. From Gaza to Ukraine, from Sudan to Myanmar, from Colombia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, survivors face not just isolation, but often complete social and economic destitution.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Clinton, 67th United States Secretary of State and former First Lady:
“Rape and other forms of sexual violence are still too often viewed as collateral damage of war and internal conflict. In too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators of this violence still go unpunished, and their impunity encourages further attacks.”
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Hillary Clinton, 67th United States Secretary of State and former First Lady:
“I am under no illusion that shame alone will stop the Kremlin's bloody war. A war that is not only carried out by emptying its prisons, dragooning its own civilians off of streets to be pressed into war, but is now about to use soldiers from North Korea to continue this bloody, unjustified, unprecedented invasion. No country is safe from this kind of war mongering leadership, and it is time that the United States recognizes the harm that Russia is causing, not only to the people of Ukraine, but to world peace and stability. Now, I know Putin has no shame, but we owe it to the people of Ukraine and to survivors of sexual violence everywhere to call out these terrible crimes.”
11. Wide shot, conference room
At a high-level United Nations event marking the 15th anniversary of the mandate on sexual violence in conflict, global leaders and advocates issued a resounding call for stronger efforts to combat the pervasive use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The event, co-hosted by the UN and multiple governments in New York today (23 Oct), reviewed progress and ongoing challenges in preventing these crimes and achieving justice for survivors.
Pramila Patten, the UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, opened the commemoration by emphasizing the urgency of addressing the root causes of war and the role of survivors in peace efforts. “No amount of protection, assistance or accountability after the fact – is a substitute for peace,” Patten said. She also said, “the message of this mandate, over many years, has been clear, we must silence the guns and unmute the voices of survivors as a critical constituency for peace.”
She also highlighted the realities of ongoing global conflicts, noting, “the figures speak for themselves. In 2023 over 170 conflicts were recorded. The number of people forced to flee war and persecution surpassed 117 million. Global military expenditure exceeded a record breaking 2.2 trillion USD and more than 612 million women and girls now live under the shadow of conflict.”
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed echoed this call for action, saying, “in 2015 with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, The World pledged to leave no one behind.”
Mohammed also said, “yet the scourge of sexual violence continues to hinder progress. From Gaza to Ukraine, from Sudan to Myanmar, from Colombia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, survivors face not just isolation, but often complete social and economic destitution.”
Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, called out the persistent impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict. Clinton said, “rape and other forms of sexual violence are still too often viewed as collateral damage of war and internal conflict. In too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators of this violence still go unpunished, and their impunity encourages further attacks.”
Clinton specifically addressed the ongoing war in Ukraine, criticizing Russian actions and calling for accountability. Clinton called for Russia to be added to the UN Secretary-General’s List of Shame, a list of violators linked to the use of child soldiers and sexual violence.
She said, “I am under no illusion that shame alone will stop the Kremlin's bloody war. A war that is not only carried out by emptying its prisons, dragooning its own civilians off of streets to be pressed into war, but is now about to use soldiers from North Korea to continue this bloody, unjustified, unprecedented invasion.”
She also said, “we owe it to the people of Ukraine and to survivors of sexual violence everywhere to call out these terrible crimes.”
Download
There is no media available to download.
