Speech from the most beautiful Lady in the world

there is nothing worse than when someone in uniform is harming the very civilians they are sent to protect no perpetrator is above the law and no Survivor is beneath it

thank you ah your excellences ministers ladies

and gentlemen it is an honor to be here I would like to acknowledge the ancestral lands of the First Nations the hundred and ten thousand men and women currently deployed on U.N peacekeeping operations and the families of all of those peacekeepers who have been killed in the

line of duty and I thank the Canadian government for hosting this event and for their leadership on women peace and security we meet at a time when peace is in short supply with armed conflict in Myanmar Syria Iraq and Yemen to name but a few of the worst examples with over 65 million refugees and displaced people worldwide and U.N peacekeepers deployed on an unprecedented 15 operations the protection of civilians has been at the heart of laws of warfare since the Geneva conventions which state that in any conflict the civilian population shall not be the object of attack yet women and children make up the vast majority of all casualties in armed conflict today laws prohibiting attacks on schools and hospitals are routinely breached for instance in Syria laws prohibiting the excuse me laws prohibiting the denial of Aid relief to civilians are repeatedly ignored whether in archine state or in Myanmar today or in Yemen in Yemen where millions of people are facing death from starvation and despite being prohibited by law sexual violence continues to be employed as a tactic of war in 19 countries it includes Mass rape gang rape sexual slavery and rape as a form of torture ethnic cleansing and terrorism it has been 68 years since the Geneva Convention fourth protocol which said

women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honor in particular against rape enforced prostitution or any form of indecent assault it has been 21 years since the UN first promised to address sexual abuse by U.N peacekeepers and to increase the number of women deployed in operations yes the exploitation of defenseless civilians still takes place and still less than four percent of all peacekeepers are women it has been 19 years since the Rome statute of the international criminal court stating that mass atrocities including rape and sexual slavery could not go unpunished and yet Justice for survivors of rape is still the exception it has been 17 years since the U.N security Council resolution 1325 called for an end to the exclusion of women from peace negotiations for special protection for women and girls against sexual violence and for an end to impunity so we have to ask how is it after all these years all these laws and all these resolutions and all the endured women still have to ask for this most basic of all entitlements the right to a life free from violence

sexual violence is everywhere in the industry where I work in businesses in universities in policies politicians military across the world it affects men as well as women however it is recognized by the U.N as one of the Prime reasons why women remain in a subordinate position in relation to men in parts of the world and as a critical obstacle to achieving women's equality and our full human rights ending gender-based violence is therefore a vital issue of social justice in All Nations and confronting its use

in its most extreme form as a weapon of War is essential for future peace and security I want to address three myths that I believe go to the heart of why these crimes still occur and what we have to overcome together the first myth is that this behavior is sexual all too often these kinds of crimes against women are laughed off and depicted as a minor offense by someone who cannot control themselves as an illness or some kind of exaggerated sexual need a man who mistreats women is abusive only last week

a trial opened in the Democratic Republic of Congo for 46 alleged cases of rape of children by militia Fighters who had been told that the blood of virgins would grant them Supernatural protection some of the victims were 18 months old according to the U.N almost every female rohingya Refugee in the camps in Bangladesh is either a survivor of sexual violence or a witness to multiple instances of

sexual assault rape or gang rape mff said that half half of the patients it has treated for rape are under 18 years old and one was just nine years old this is rape and assault designed to torture to terrorize and to force people to flee it has nothing to do with sex it has everything to do with abuse of power it is Criminal Behavior the second myth is that even when conflict-related sexual violence is clearly understood as a crime it is treated as a lesser crime an inevitable aspect of the breakdown of social order not a central issue for peace negotiations or agreements and not grave enough to mount prosecutions and imprison those responsible but sexual web violence is a weapon used to deliberate effect to achieve military or political objectives it is cheaper than a bullet it has long lasting consequences that unfold with sickening predictability and that is what makes it so cruelly effective

I would like to ask everyone here to take a moment to consider the following scenario imagine your hometown the street where you live a conflict has broken out in your country one night trucks roll in

and your street is surrounded and blocked off men with guns pour out of those trucks and start breaking down doors they go from house to house in your street and in the course of one night they rape every woman or girl they find and they do so in front of their families now think how you and your family would be affected that night that day for the months and years to come that impact on all of you the emotional pain and Trauma stigma the shame the physical and mental illness how broken you would feel that you were unable to stop this from happening to your family members and how bitter you would feel at being told months or years later that you have to move on and forget because there is now a peace agreement and justice for your families is less important this is the reality for millions of families today it is happening today day in day out and more often than not we know about it it's on our television screens and our newspapers why then why then does nothing really change and this brings me to my third myth which is that even if we accept that sexual violence has nothing to do with sex

and understand that it is a crime that it is used as a weapon with many people it will still believe that it's just simply not postmen that's how it goes how could we possibly prevent sexual violence in the extreme conditions of War it is hard yes but it is not impossible we have the laws the institutions the expertise in gathering evidence we are able to identify perpetrators and those responsible what is missing the political will this brings me to the role of the military there is nothing worse than when someone in uniform is harming the very civilians they are sent to protect and I like to believe that no one is angrier than you when one of your own betrays their uniform and your values in that way

in the last few years I have seen a dramatic change in the willingness of military leaders to address the taboos around these issues and to take action in Kenya earlier this year I met peacekeepers from around the world receiving training many of them for the first time in how to identify and respond to sexual

violence and to interact appropriately with survivors on U.N peacekeeping missions Canada the UK

and Bangladesh have announced today the senior military Chiefs Network promising to work with other senior Military Officers to increase the number of women in their militaries to change training to include gender and women peace and security to deploy more women in operational roles and to appoint full-time gender advisors and many of the countries represented at this conference have also made new and

very important pledges so I thank them I thank you for these commitments I hope they will be just the beginning in this work we've not only strengthen our societies and improve peacekeeping but you will Play Your Part in showing that no perpetrator is above the law and no Survivor is beneath it and I am here determined to do anything I can to work alongside all of you thank you for all you've done today

thank you for your efforts and I look forward to our work