UN Reports 25% Surge in Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in 2024

The UN reports a 25% rise in conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, with the highest cases in the Central African Republic, DRC, Haiti, Somalia, and South Sudan. Sixty-three state and non-state parties are accused of systematic sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery, with over 17,000 victims treated in eastern DRC’s Kivu region in just five months.

A new United Nations report reveals a troubling rise in conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, showing a 25 percent increase in reported cases compared to the previous year. According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the highest numbers of incidents were recorded in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia, and South Sudan—countries already struggling with prolonged instability and armed conflict.

The report lists 63 state and non-state parties in its annex as being credibly suspected of committing, facilitating, or bearing responsibility for repeated patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence during armed conflicts. This list, which includes both government forces and armed groups, is now a matter for the United Nations Security Council’s attention.

In one stark example, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kivu region saw health workers treat more than 17,000 victims of sexual violence in just five months last year, as fighting between Congolese troops and M23 rebels escalated. Such cases, the report notes, include rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, and other forms of abuse used systematically as tools of war to terrorize communities, displace populations, and exert control.

The findings highlight the urgent need for stronger international action, better protection for civilians, and justice mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable, as sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon in armed conflicts around the world.