GENEVA, 7 December 2018—UNAIDS condemns the rapes of 150 women and girls while collecting food for their families near Bentiu, a government-controlled area in South Sudan, during a 10-day period in November.
Echoing a statement made by the United Nations Special Representatives on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, and the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, who spoke out against the rapes earlier this week, Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said, “No one should live in fear of sexual violence, no matter where they live. We must protect women and girls from one of the grossest human rights violations—rape. We must end gender-based violence for good.”
The world is commemorating the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from 25 November until 10 December to highlight the commitments made to end all forms of gender-based violence. UNAIDS is committed to working with its partners to prevent and mitigate the effects of rape and other forms of gender-based violence.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
