A world free of wartime rape is within our reach

At the United Nations, we are beginning to see the results of years of policy development, training and intense engagement on this issue. The number of cease-fire agreements including provisions on conflict-related sexual violence has more than doubled. Peacekeepers in DRC and Darfur are consulting with local women's groups and provide armed escorts for women collecting firewood and walking to the marketplace. The United Nations' Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict is working with the governments of Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Guinea, Somalia and South Sudan to strengthen the entire chain of justice in order to ensure accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors.

But the most important partners in this coalition are the local and international organizations on the ground, journalists, activists, and traditional, religious and community leaders who are providing services for survivors, changing destructive perceptions and customs, and demanding action from their governments and the international community.

These are but small steps in the right direction, but they hold the promise of something greater. Only a few years ago sexual violence was dismissed as the inevitable by-product of war, the unfortunate collateral damage of conflict. Now, after years of concerted effort, the international community has come to accept rape in war as a threat to international peace and security that can be stamped out once and for all.

This shift in thinking is important not only for survivors, their families and communities, but it is also a prerequisite for international peace and security. Sexual violence fuels displacement, poverty and insecurity and can consign communities and countries to an endless spiral of conflict and vengeance.

Building and maintaining the political will to respond to these offences, and translating that will into action, is a monumental task. While this year's UN report illustrates the many challenges we face in eradicating sexual violence as a tool and a legacy of war, it also highlights the fact that we are making progress in our efforts. It will take international cooperation and commitment from national governments, but a world free of wartime rape is within our reach.

The author is a United Nations under-secretary-general and the special representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

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