UN –International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict (19 June 2018)

The UN Secretary-General’s last report on this issue noted 19 conflict situations in which such atrocities were reported and identified 51 parties responsible for the sometimes systematic use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, a method of torture, and a tool of terror.

France is fighting against impunity for sexual violence in conflicts:

• by implementing the Security Council’s “women, peace and security” resolutions, notably through its own national action plan;
• by supporting the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, notably by funding a position for a young expert at that office;
• by supporting the appointment of advisers responsible for the protection of women within peacekeeping operations.

In July 2017, the mission for humanitarian action at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Center (CDCS) also funded a project by the NGO EliseCare in Iraqi Kurdistan to provide psychosocial support for Yezidi women who were survivors of sexual violence.

Between 2016 and 2018, the CDCS’s stabilization mission funded several projects, notably in the Central African Republic and Yemen, to combat violence against women and to provide them with holistic care (medical, psychosocial, legal, etc.)

France reaffirms its commitment to end all forms of violence against women and girls.