Senior EU diplomat condemns rape as a weapon of war

The European Union’s (EU) new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, used December’s European Parliament plenary to launch a scathing attack on those who use rape as a weapon of war, targeting two African countries in particular.

The former Estonian prime minister, who replaced Spain’s Josep Borrell on December 1, singled out the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan as where sexual violence is being used as a weapon.

She told the plenary in Strasbourg, France, “there are terrible wars today” and pointed to the statistics of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the DRC as an example. They showed more than twenty-five thousand victims and survivors of sexual violence across the Central African country last year.

“That’s more than two people per hour,” she said, adding that three months ago (September 2024) 80 percent of women displaced from the camps were said to have been raped.

In Sudan, where a major humanitarian crisis has been and is ongoing with 25 million people in need of support, rape and gender-based violence are battle tactics, she told the plenary.

6.7 million people are at risk of gender-based violence in the war-torn East African country, with displaced, refugee and migrant women and girls particularly vulnerable.

“The two main parties to the conflict are accused of sexual violence, with Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and allied militias committing widespread sexual violence, including multiple instances of sexual slavery.

“Sexual violence in conflict is a war crime,” she said, adding: “in the DRC and Sudan, it is part of everyday life. It is under reported and will probably be much worse than we imagine. Whatever the EU can do to change this, we must do.

“In the DRC, as we support regional peace initiatives – the Luanda and Nairobi processes – we have also sanctioned individuals who are known serious violators of human rights, to complement United Nations (UN) sanctions.

Over the past two years, the EU has provided more than €50 million to combat gender-based violence and looks forward to the European bloc remaining committed to a strong global response to conflict-related sexual violence.

“First, it is a global condemnation and a global response that will send the clearest message to the perpetrators that their actions will be punished.

“Secondly, this requires strong legal systems to hold criminals accountable. Globally, four out of five women and girls live in countries without substantial legal protection against gender-based violence.

“Third, it requires more humanitarian funding that explicitly addresses gender-based violence. We must do much better than spending a small percentage of global humanitarian funds to combat violence against women and girls,” the plenary heard.