The report, covering 21 situations of concern, documented 9,788 cases verified by the United Nations in 2025.
UNITED NATIONS:
Seventeen years after the UN recognized conflict-related sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security, Pakistan has called for the “full, faithful and non-selective” implementation of Security Council resolutions, including those on women, peace and security, that aimed to combat this crime.
Speaking to the 15-member Council, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, said “these resolutions carry clear obligations to prevent, protect, investigate, prosecute and remedy” in a bid to end sexual violence in conflict.
That would be the “true test” of the Security Council’s commitment to the cause, he said in a debate convened by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), president of the Council in July, in which more than 70 delegations participated. They considered the recent report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, presented by Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict.
The report, covering 21 situations of concern, documented 9,788 cases verified by the United Nations in 2025, more than double the number recorded in 2024. “However, such figures can never capture the full scale and magnitude of this chronically unreported crime,” said Ms. Patten, the Special Representative, adding that for every case that reaches a clinic, an estimated 10 to 20 go unreported and unaddressed.
The mandate was established by Council resolution 1888 (2009), based 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.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Ahmad, Pakistan’s envoy, said conflict-related sexual violence destroyed people, fractured families, terrorized communities and left intergenerational wounds, including in children born of conflict-related rape.
At the same time, he stressed that the Secretary-General’s “listing mechanism”, the blacklist of perpetrators, should cover all conflict and foreign occupation situations on the Council’s agenda.
“No situation should be left unscrutinized and no perpetrator should be allowed to treat sexual violence gratuitously,” the Pakistani envoy said.
“Sanctions regimes, where appropriate, should be used more effectively against persistent perpetrators, and justice processes should be designed to be more victim- and survivor-centered, more trauma-informed, and more accessible.”
Ambassador Asim Ahmad also underlined the need to strengthen accountability “comprehensively and consistently”, saying that victims and survivors must receive timely and comprehensive support, including medical care, psychosocial assistance, legal assistance, livelihood support and reparations.
“Prevention must be at the center of our collective response,” said the Pakistani envoy. “That requires compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law; meaningful participation of women in peace processes; early warning; sustained financing; responsible arms control; and, above all, addressing the root causes of the conflict, including foreign occupation and the denial of the right to self-determination.”
“The true test of this Council’s commitment lies in the full, faithful and non-selective implementation of its resolutions, including those on women, peace and security,” he added.
