Confront Past Horrors, Support Survivors, Protect Future Generations, Secretary-General Urges in Message for International Day to Eliminate Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, observed on 19 June:

Sexual violence is a grotesque tactic of war, used to brutalize, torture, and repress, scarring bodies, minds and entire communities.  The horror of these heinous crimes echoes long after the guns fall silent.

Too often, perpetrators walk free, cloaked in impunity, while survivors often bear the impossible burden of stigma and trauma.  The pain does not end with them.  It stretches across lifetimes, ravaging generations of families, and forces the inherited legacy of trauma and suffering on the descendants of survivors.

The focus of this year is the deep and lasting intergenerational wounds of conflict-related sexual violence.  To break the cycle, we must confront the horrors of the past, support the survivors of today, and protect future generations from the same fate.

That means ensuring safe access to vital, survivor-centered and trauma-informed services; delivering justice and holding perpetrators to account; and listening to — and amplifying — the vital voices of survivors.

Let’s unite to end this despicable crime, demand justice for survivors, and sustain our critical efforts to end the cycle of violence for good.