User:Anonymous101/UN passes resolution calling rape a weapon of war

Friday, June 20, 2008 

The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to pass a resolution which says that rape is a weapon of war. In the resolution the UN also called for the “immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians.”

The resolution also noted “that civilians account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict; that women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group; and that sexual violence perpetrated in this manner may in some instances persist after the cessation of hostilities."

According the BBC News website , this move has been described by Human Rights groups as a historic occasion.

Sources

• "UN classifies rape a 'war tactic'" — BBC News Online, June 20, 2008
• Press Release: "SECURITY COUNCIL DEMANDS IMMEDIATE AND COMPLETE HALT TO ACTS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE" — United Nations, June 20, 2008