UN declares June 19 "Day for the elimination of sexual violence in conflicts

The president of that UN body, Sam Kutesa, stressed that rapes and other forms of sexual violence in the context of wars and post-conflict situations constitute serious abuses of human rights and humanitarian laws that, however, are perpetrated to frighten and control the civilian population.

At an event held on the premises of the General Assembly, the special representative of the Secretary General on sexual violence in conflicts, Zainab Bangura, praised the enormous political will at the international level to combat the scourge, but indicated that it is still pending to translate it to concrete actions.

"This Day will also serve to honor thousands of survivors of sexual violence, including women, girls, men and children, who despite having suffered serious damage have shown great determination, resolve and courage to denounce this crime," said the high official

The Mission of Argentina to the United Nations sponsored the resolution. Cristina Perceval, ambassador of that country to the UN, said that through this document is helping to build a culture of peace.

"We are putting the effort in search of concrete solutions for thousands and thousands of human beings, mainly women, girls and boys, victims of hatred and intolerance, of the cruelty of different forms of violence, in this case of the sexual violence used in conflict as a weapon of war to humiliate, dominate, subdue and degrade our human dignity, "said the ambassador.

Perceval indicated that the objective of the initiative is to raise awareness in the international community to put an end to these attacks, as well as to promote adequate measures of assistance to victims and to fight impunity decisively

Zainab Bangura, representante especial de la ONU sobre la violencia sexual en los conflictos.