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Digital Library

For a list of relevant guidance documents, please refer to the mapping conducted by UN Action

Press Release- UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, condemns the renewed offensive by the M23 with the support of the Rwandan Defence Force and expresses grave concern about the heightened risk and emerging reports of conflict-related sexual violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

New York, 3 February 2025: The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, expresses grave concerns over the attacks in Goma, North Kivu and South Kivu, by the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) with the support of the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF), which intensified on 23 January 2025. This renewed offensive with its current expansion to South Kivu has triggered an alarming deterioration of the security situation, with reports of attacks against civilians, including conflict-related sexual violence. “These brutal attacks are a horrific reminder of the extreme vulnerability of civilians caught amid armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and must cease immediately. All perpetrators of such acts must be held to account for their crimes.”

Press Release- UN Special Representative Patten condemns the continued use of sexual violence against civilians as a tactic of war and political repression in Myanmar and calls for renewed attention and urgent action from the international community to address the plight of survivors of sexual violence and meet their unique needs

New York, 3 February 2025: Four years since the military seized power from the democratically elected Government in Myanmar and plunged the country into chaos, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, strongly condemns the continued use of rape and other forms of sexual violence as a tactic of war and political repression and strategy to punish and terrorize communities across Myanmar.

Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee – Stop the assault on Palestinians in Gaza and on those trying to help them

"NEW YORK/GENEVA/ROME – We the leaders of 15 United Nations and humanitarian organizations urge, yet again, all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians, and call on the State of Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help. The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic. The area has been under siege for almost a month, denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue. Just in the past few days, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and thousands have once again been forcibly displaced."

A year after the 7 October attacks, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, remembers the victims of the attacks and reiterates her call for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages

New York, 7 October 2024: A year after the brutal attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, expresses her heartfelt solidarity with all the victims, their families and communities affected by these tragic events. Special Representative Patten stated: “Today we stand united in remembrance of those who lost their lives and in unwavering support of the survivors who bear the scars of that fateful day, in particular the victims of sexual violence, a heinous crime that has devastating physical and psychological impacts.”

Press Release – UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten, expresses serious concerns over reported instances of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees

New York, 9 September 2024: The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Ms. Pramila Patten, expresses her deep concern about recently published reports by the United Nations including OHCHR, describing a dramatic deterioration in conditions of detention for Palestinians men, women and children under Israeli custody, since the 7 October attacks and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza. These very disturbing reports of sexual violence and other inhuman and degrading treatment could amount to sexualized torture, perpetrated against Palestinian men and women and include widespread sexual slurs and threats of rape and gang rape, repeated and humiliating strip searches and prolonged forced nudity, beatings and electrocution of genitals and anus, insertion of objects into detainees’ anuses, inappropriate touching of women by both male and female soldiers, and photographing or filming of naked or partially undressed detainees in humiliating positions.

A war waged on the bodies of women and girls: following visit to Chad, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict calls for the immediate cessation of sexual violence by parties to the conflict in Sudan and urges for funding to support survivors

New York, 24 July 2024: At the invitation of the Government, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Pramila Patten led an official visit to Chad between 14 and 18 July 2024, to assess the situation in the Ouaddaï Region, where more than 620,000 refugees have sought protection, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, who have fled the ongoing hostilities in Sudan.

Joint Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya

NEW YORK, 25 April 2024: Joint Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya on the scourge of sexual violence amid ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Statement by Ms. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, on the renewed escalation of violence in Darfur, Sudan

(14 November 2023) – The United Nations Under- Secretary- General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, remains highly alarmed at the renewed escalation of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated militias in Darfur over the past two weeks, particularly in Nyala, Geneina and Zalingei. The Special Adviser is extremely concerned at the serious allegations of mass killings in an area housing a camp for displaced families in Ardamata, Geneina, where more than 800 people were reportedly killed and 8,000 others fled to neighbouring Chad. The number of displaced could be much higher due to reports of RSF blocking displaced civilians from crossing into that country. Special Adviser Wairimu Nderitu is also alarmed at the reports of mass graves believed to contain the remains of members of the ethnic Masalit tribe in the area.

La Representante Especial de la ONU, Pramila Patten, celebra la apertura formal del caso sobre violencia sexual relacionada con el conflicto por parte de la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz en Colombia (ES)

Nueva York, 28 de septiembre de 2023: La Secretaria General Adjunta de las Naciones Unidas y Representante Especial del Secretario General sobre la Violencia Sexual en los Conflictos, Pramila Patten, saluda la decisión de la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz de abrir formalmente el caso focalizado en la violencia basada en género, violencia sexual, violencia reproductiva, y otros crímenes cometidos por prejuicio basados en la orientación sexual, la expresión y/o identidad de género diversa en el marco del conflicto armado colombiano.

UN Special Representative Pramila Patten welcomes the formal opening of a dedicated case on conflict-related sexual violence by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia (EN)

New York, 28 September 2023: United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Ms. Pramila Patten, commends the formal opening by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia of a dedicated case on sexual and gender-based violence, reproductive violence and other genderbased crimes on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity committed in the context of the armed conflict.