Seventeen years after the United Nations recognized conflict-related sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security, the crime remains widespread, systematic and chronically underreported, the Security Council heard today, as speakers called for urgent action to move beyond condemnation.
The open debate, convened by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Council President for July, drew more than 70 delegations. They considered the Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence (document S/2026/321), presented by Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Reported Cases Doubled in 2025
Covering 21 situations of concern, the report documented 9,788 cases verified by the United Nations in 2025 — more than double the number recorded in 2024. “Yet such figures can never capture the full scale and magnitude of this chronically underreported crime,” she said, adding that for every case reaching a clinic, 10 to 20 are estimated to go unreported and unaddressed.
The mandate was established by Council resolution 1888 (2009),building on the Council’s recognition of conflict-related sexual violence as an issue of international peace and security, including its use as a weapon and tactic of war and the persistent impunity enjoyed by perpetrators.
When the mandate was created, Ms. Patten recalled, conflict-related sexual violence was described as “history’s greatest silence” and “the world’s least-condemned crime of war”, with Darfur and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo then at the epicentre.
Ending Abuse through Political Engagement, National Ownership
Today, she said, the Democratic Republic of the Congo also shows what advancement can look like, standing as an example of “bending the arc of history towards progress” through political engagement, national ownership and international cooperation. Her office will consider delisting the Congolese National Police in the next reporting cycle, following a five-year downward trend in attributed cases.
She also cited the 2017 delisting of the Armed Forces of Côte d’Ivoire and recent support to the Somali National Army to develop a Command Order translating commitments into operational directives. These provide “an instructive example of what can be achieved through engagement with my mandate”, she said.
Israel, Russian Federation Newly Listed in Report
Still, the report lists 77 parties, including 62 non-State actors, with more than 65 per cent identified as persistent perpetrators. New listings include non-State actors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti, as well as State actors in Israel and the Russian Federation. The Special Representative reported persistent patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence by Israeli armed and security forces, while Russian armed forces continue to be implicated in patterns of sexual violence.
Three Priorities to Prevent Broken Bodies, Broken Lives, Broken Laws
“The report is a litany of broken bodies, broken lives, and broken laws,” she said, observing that “these crimes occur at the intersection of dehumanization and impunity”. Citing situations including Haiti, Sudan and Myanmar, she asked whether the international community can provide meaningful protection and support to civilians and survivors.
She proposed three priorities: accelerating the deployment of women’s protection advisers to improve monitoring, prevention and engagement with parties to conflict; increasing investment in survivor-centred services, including healthcare, legal assistance, psychosocial support, digital referrals and mobile clinics; and translating zero tolerance into accountability through investigations, prosecutions, oversight, reparations and justice mechanisms.
Haiti Records ‘Alarming Surge’ in Cases
“Local women-led organizations are often the first to respond and the last to leave a crisis,” said Carine Jocelyn, Founder and Director of the non-governmental Haitian Women’s Collective.
Describing the spiralling conflict between rival gangs and the Haitian National Police — marked by kidnappings, violence and a “complete breakdown of law and order” — she said it has fuelled an alarming surge in sexual and gender-based violence. According to the UN, cases of sexual violence in Haiti increased by 163 per cent in 2025. “The real numbers are likely even higher,” she said. “Women and girls are systematically raped, trafficked and sexually exploited by gangs — they are being targeted in their homes, at displacement sites and as they go about their daily lives.”
Despite funding shortages, harassment and threats, Haitian Women’s Collective partner groups continue providing life-saving services. “They are living proof that [Haitian women] must be treated as dignified, joyful and capable architects of our own lives,” she said. Noting that many Haitians feel UN efforts “have yet to make a real difference in their daily lives”, she cautioned: “Attempts to improve security through militarized and privately funded means, while ignoring the concerns of our communities, will not bring peace to Haiti.”
She urged the Council to “chart a new course” by enforcing the arms embargo, condemning gender-based violence, funding local organizations and supporting safe reporting and investigations for survivors. The newly authorized Gang Suppression Force, she added, should include mandatory protection measures and deploy women protection advisers. “Finally, [the Council should] call on all Member States to maintain temporary protection or refugee status for Haitians, and refrain from forcibly returning people to Haiti while the crisis persists,” she said.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Recounts Painful Experience
Judith Suminwa Tuluka, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said her country sought to preside over the meeting because its “painful experience places on us a special responsibility”. Conflict-related sexual violence is not only an individual tragedy, but the language of war itself, she said. “We are painfully familiar with that” in regions affected by occupation by foreign forces, including Rwanda.
She highlighted a national reparations fund and service centres providing medical, legal and socioeconomic care, warning that when clinics disappear, women’s organizations go unfunded and documentation is unsupported, survivors and prosecutions suffer. Turning to children born of conflict-related sexual violence, she said that “these children cannot be dealt with simply as an indirect consequence of violence inflicted on their mothers”. She called for their rights to legal identity, education, reparations and protection against stigma to be respected.
Secretary-General’s Report Draws Support, But Also Criticism
During the debate, the Secretary-General’s report drew broad support, while several delegations questioned its objectivity.
The representatives of Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Panama and the United Kingdom were among those commending the work of the Office of the Special Representative and reaffirmed full support for her mandate.
“The Secretary General’s report makes for hallowing reading,” said Jim O'Callaghan, Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. He noted with deep concern that two new State parties — the Russian Federation and Israel — were listed for the first time.
The representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, said that “permanent members of the Security Council bear a special responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and in doing so, to uphold and promote respect for international law.” Noting the addition of the Russian Federation’s security forces on the annual list, he condemned their systematic and widespread use of rape as a weapon of war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s speaker said the Russian Federation’s aggression has returned to Europe many of the war crimes long thought confined to history’s darkest chapters. “Yet among this catalogue of atrocities, conflict-related sexual violence stands out for its particular cruelty and depravity,” he said.
Victims have reported rape, gang rape, forced nudity, genital mutilation and castration. Approximately 80 per cent of Ukrainian men released from Russian captivity reported being subjected to electric shocks to the genital area. Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have documented about 400 cases of conflict-related sexual violence linked to Russia’s aggression, though “these figures are only the tip of the iceberg,” he stressed. In this context, Kyiv highly values its cooperation with Special Representative Pramila Patten and her office.
Russian Federation, Israel Decry Their Inclusion in Report
However, the Russian Federation’s delegate rejected the report, alleging “flawed methodology” and “selectivity in country-specific assessments”, which are evident in files such as Sudan and Myanmar. He claimed an “imbalance” in how the report addresses allegations against Russian forces. He also accused Ukrainian military and security personnel of committing sexual violence since 2014, asserting that such cases remain “on the periphery of attention” because they do not fit as a predetermined effort to demonize the Russian Federation.
Israel’s representative accused Ms. Patten of yielding to pressure from the Secretary-General to place Israel’s armed and security forces on the blacklist alongside groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS and Hamas, describing the move as politically motivated and unsupported by verified evidence. He argued that, for years, the Secretary-General “has tried to place the State of Israel in the same moral category as Hamas”. Calling for the disclosure of her communications with the Secretary-General’s office, he challenged her to prove that the decision had not been politically influenced and demanded her resignation.
The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine decried Israel’s “immoral attack” and “campaign of defamation” against the Secretary-General and his Special Representative, who refused to bow to its intimidation as they fulfilled their mandates. Their latest report documented cases of Palestinians subjected to patterns of rape, degrading bodily searches, forced nudity and the use of sexual violence as a means of torture or humiliation — in Israeli prisons, military checkpoints and during military incursions. While the violations listed represent only a small fraction of those crimes committed, he nevertheless praised the decision to add Israel to the annual “blacklist” as a first step towards accountability.
“Unfortunately, the UN Secretary-General’s latest report fails to support tangible action,” said the representative of the United States. “Instead, it focuses on words and empty rhetoric.” She said Washington, D.C., is prepared to use all tools at its disposal, including targeted sanctions, to impose real costs on perpetrators and their networks. In February, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against three commanders of the Rapid Support Forces for their actions in El Fasher, Sudan. Last month, it also announced sanctions against two commanders from the March 23 Movement (M23) and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) for their violations in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Pakistan’s delegate stressed that the Secretary-General’s listing mechanism should cover all situations of conflict and foreign occupation on the Council’s agenda. “No situation should be shielded from scrutiny, and no perpetrator should be allowed to treat sexual violence as cost-free,” he said.
Egypt’s representative agreed, calling for the non-selective application of international standards. All parties who commit such violations should be included in the relevant lists and report annexes, he said, stressing the need to include Israel on the UN blacklist in the wake of its documented sexual violence and degrading attacks against Palestinians.
Somalia’s speaker also called for accountability, including in situations of occupation, and emphasized survivor-led responses, as “too often, survivors are spoken for rather than listened to”.
Identifying priority areas, El Salvador’s representative said that peace operations and other UN presences must have sufficient capacity to prevent, monitor and respond to conflict-related sexual violence. She raised concern that women’s protection advisers are deployed only in nine of the more than twenty situations covered in the report. Moreover, conflict-related sexual violence should be integrated as a stand-alone criterion into relevant sanctions regimes, she said.
Member States Share Strategies to End Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
Several Member States shared their national experience.
Colombia “is no stranger” to conflict-related sexual violence, said that country’s delegate, stressing the crucial need to recognize the differentiated impact of conflict on women, girls, boys, LGBTIQ+ persons, ethnic communities, displaced persons and other groups at heightened risk. “A response that is limited to the individual case, without considering the surrounding context, will always fall short,” she said, calling for greater availability of specialized capacities, including advisers within relevant UN missions.
In the wake of its civil war, Liberia created a specialized court to prosecute sexual and gender-based crimes, aimed at starting to break down impunity, the country’s representative said. “It also taught us that societies are not rebuilt by prosecutions alone — they are rebuilt when survivors trust that institutions exist for them,” he added, proposing that survivors be treated as rights-holders “whose dignity must remain central to every response” and that “strategic sanctions” be imposed on perpetrators, rather than simply placing them on the blacklist.