At a UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, Sima Bhosle, the UN’s Executive Director-General, condemned the persecution and violence suffered by women and warned of an increase in human trafficking as the situation in Ukraine was “extremely hopeless.”
“We hear a lot about rape and sexual harassment. These allegations should be investigated independently to ensure justice and accountability. (…) Unsupported young women and adolescents are at particular risk, “said Sima Bahaus.
“The combination of mass displacement and recruitment and the brutality shown against mercenaries and Ukrainian civilians has raised all the red flags. Must continue, ”he pleaded.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN, and one of the diplomats who convened the meeting, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, condemned the rape and abuse of women and children and said that what was happening to women and children in Ukraine was “horrendous and incomprehensible.”
“When men want a president [da Rússia, Vladimir] Putin starts wars, women and children are displaced. Women and children are injured. (…) 90% of the refugees in Ukraine are women and children and this represents an additional risk. Women in Ukraine are at higher risk for gender-based violence, including rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
At today’s meeting, the UN. The Executive Director of Women concluded her intervention with an appeal, calling on women to coordinate, consult and engage in all decisions related to the response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Sima Bahos stressed that women’s participation “makes response and recovery more effective and sustainable.”
“In the midst of these horrors, women continue to serve and lead their communities and support the internally displaced. Women make up 80% of all health and social workers in Ukraine. (…) They were there before the war, they will be there, and then they will be there to pick up the pieces, “said Sima Bahaus.
“However, women are often absent from the current negotiation effort. We call on this Security Council, all member states and our humanitarian partners to ensure the meaningful contribution of women and girls, including dedicated groups, to all decision-making, diplomacy and humanitarian processes. There will be no development, no human security. “