Speaker #0Hello and welcome to Les Clés du Monde, the podcast that explores the major issues in law and geopolitics.
This episode contains sensitive content, including violence against women, sexual assault and other forms of abuse. These topics may be disturbing or difficult to listen to. If you are affected by such issues or find these themes distressing, I encourage you to seek support and contact qualified professionals.
I speak about this because I want to give a voice to those who never had one — to the women whose stories were silenced, whose pain was denied. This episode is not here to evoke pity; it is here to testify.
From Bosnia to the Congo, from Iraq to Colombia, rape has been used as a weapon of war — a strategy to destroy, dominate and erase. As long as silence protects perpetrators instead of survivors, war will continue to be waged on women’s bodies.
Listen. Learn. Share. Because breaking the silence is the first act of justice.
Imagine a war where the battlefield is not the front line but the body; where terror is inflicted not with guns, but with violence hidden behind closed doors; where communities crumble, families are shattered, and silence protects the guilty. This is the reality of sexual violence in conflict.
It is not accidental. It is deliberate. It is a weapon.
In this episode, we uncover the stories the world too often ignores. From history to the present day, from Asia to the Americas, we examine how sexual violence is used to control, destroy and terrorize. Understanding this reality is not optional — it is urgent.
Describing how these crimes are committed is not voyeurism; it is necessary to understand the strategy behind them. On the ground, patterns emerge from investigations and testimonies: prolonged detentions, gang rapes, abductions turned into sexual slavery, and mutilations targeting fertility. These are not isolated assaults. They are deliberately used as tools of war to terrorize, humiliate and dismantle entire communities.
One of the most devastating objectives is the destruction of the social fabric. Sexual violence isolates and stigmatizes victims, causing communities to fracture. Mothers are rejected as “tainted.” Girls and adolescents are marginalized, prevented from returning to school or normal life. Children born of violence may be ostracized or abandoned. Families are shattered when assaults occur publicly — sometimes in front of spouses or children — spreading shame and fear throughout the household.
The consequences are medical, psychological and social. Victims suffer severe physical injuries: fistulas, infections, genital mutilation and permanent disabilities. Access to medical care is often limited, leaving many untreated. Psychological scars run deep: depression, PTSD, anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks affect survivors and children who witness the violence. Trauma can last a lifetime, shaping relationships, education and the ability to trust.
Understanding these mechanisms explains why sexual violence in war is not random. It is a strategy of domination aimed at erasing lives, families and the future of entire communities.
As Major General Patrick Cammaert once said, “It is probably more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict.” Think about that for a second. In war, those who never carry weapons are often the first to be targeted.
According to a UNICEF report published in October 2024, more than 370 million girls and women alive today were raped or sexually assaulted before the age of 18. That means one in eight. Across continents, methods may vary, but the objective remains the same: the body becomes a battlefield.
Let us hear the voices of survivors, past and present.
During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army forced thousands of women — mainly Korean, Chinese and Filipino — into sexual slavery in so-called “comfort stations.” These women were systematically raped, beaten and treated as objects. The trauma persists today, as many survivors never received official recognition or reparations.
We now turn to Europe and the Bosnian war. During this conflict, soldiers, paramilitaries and sometimes civilians — often tolerated by authorities — used rape to terrorize and fracture communities. Most victims were Bosniak Muslim women, raped publicly to maximize psychological and social harm. Sexual violence was used as a deliberate strategy of ethnic cleansing. Later, international tribunal trials recognized rape as both a war crime and a crime against humanity, setting crucial legal precedents.
Next, we turn to Africa, where ongoing conflicts reveal similar patterns. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, armed groups — both local militias and foreign-backed forces — have, for over twenty years, used rape to terrorize civilians and control territory in North and South Kivu. Victims include women, girls, men and boys, subjected to gang rape, sexual slavery, genital mutilation and abduction. Survivors face stigma and limited access to care, while the judicial system rarely holds perpetrators accountable.
In Tigray, Ethiopia, since 2020, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, along with allied militias, have committed gang rapes, prolonged detentions, genital mutilation and forced sterilization. These acts deliberately humiliate and dismantle communities. Attacks on healthcare facilities make recovery nearly impossible, despite documentation by international organizations.
In Sudan, civilians caught between armed forces and militias have suffered widespread sexual violence. Victims — some as young as fifteen — have endured gang rape, sexual slavery and torture, sometimes in front of family members. Children who witnessed these horrors carry deep psychological scars.
Moving east to the Middle East, conflicts continue to weaponize sexual violence. Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has seen sexual violence used systematically by multiple actors: government forces, allied militias and non-state armed groups. Women and girls have faced rape, abduction and torture, often in detention centers or during raids.
In Iraq, ISIS specifically targeted the Yazidi community — acts recognized by the United Nations as genocide. Women and girls were abducted, collectively raped, forced into sexual slavery, subjected to forced marriages and, in many cases, mutilated. Entire families were displaced or killed. This was not random violence; it was a calculated strategy to destroy social cohesion and force mass displacement.
Even in the Americas, conflict has relied on sexual violence as a tool of repression. In Guatemala, during the civil war of the 1980s, the army systematically targeted Indigenous Maya women with rape to intimidate, punish and fragment communities, often publicly or in front of family members. In Colombia, over decades, armed groups such as the FARC and paramilitaries abducted, raped and forced women and girls into sexual slavery. Men and boys were also victims. These actions were strategic — designed to instill fear, displace populations and dismantle social cohesion.
I cannot cover every region in this episode, but it is crucial to understand that sexual violence in conflict is a global issue. While some areas are affected more severely than others, the underlying patterns of control, terror and community destruction are tragically similar everywhere.
Legally, the world has taken steps. The United Nations Security Council explicitly linked sexual violence to the peace and security agenda with Resolution 1820, adopted in 2008. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court recognizes rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity, allowing individuals — including military leaders — to be prosecuted.
International justice exists. The ICTY, ICTR and ICC have prosecuted sexual violence crimes, and some convictions mark important milestones. Yet the obstacles remain immense. Evidence is often destroyed or inaccessible. Survivors may be too traumatized to testify. Political pressure interferes, and the lack of international cooperation frequently delays or blocks justice. For many victims, accountability remains painfully elusive.
Imagine a woman in a war zone. Her body is no longer her own. Every step, every gesture can become a target. She fears for herself, her children and her family. Her body carries terror. It bears the cruelty of war.
These are real lives shattered, dignity stolen, humanity tested. And yet, even in the darkest moments, women resist. They protect. They endure. They survive.
Of course, men and children are also victims. But today, we focus on women — because they are disproportionately affected, and because their stories must be heard.
To conclude, I want to leave you with this: the shame must change sides. It is not the victims who should carry it. Being safe in our own countries does not give us the right to look away. These crimes concern all of us, as human beings.
We must speak. Act. Make noise. Support survivors. Demand justice. Share the truth.
That is how the world changes — and how justice moves forward.
Thank you for being with me today.
See you next week for a new episode of Les Clés du Monde.
