Rapes are part of a “military strategy” and a “deliberate tactic” according to the UN

“All the indications are there. UN Special Representative Pramila Patten is formal. Questioned by AFP, she claims that Russia uses rape and sexual assault as weapons of war in Ukraine, believing that this constituted “a military strategy” and “a deliberate tactic to dehumanize the victims”.

“When women and girls are kidnapped for days and raped, when you start raping little boys and men, when you see a series of cases of genital mutilation, when you hear the testimonies of women evoking Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it is clearly a military strategy, ”she denounces.

“And when the victims talk about what was said during the rapes, it is clear that this is a deliberate tactic to dehumanize the victims”, says the Mauritian lawyer. She notes that the first cases of sexual violence surfaced “three days after the start of the invasion of Ukraine”, on February 24. The UN has verified “over a hundred cases” of rape and sexual assault in Ukraine since the start of the war, but “the reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg”.

“It will not be without consequence”

Quoting the report of the independent international commission of inquiry, she underlines that “the age of the victims of sexual violence varies from 4 years to 82 years”. Expressing her support for the victims, she also asked them “to break the silence” and warned the rapists: “The world is watching them, and it will not be without consequences to rape a woman or a girl, a man or a boy.

The UN representative is also concerned about the risk of human trafficking. “Women, girls and children who have fled Ukraine are very, very vulnerable, and for predators, what is happening in this country is not a tragedy, it is an opportunity. Human trafficking is an invisible crime, but it is a major crisis,” she warns.