When non-state armed groups began attacking nearby villages in northern Mozambique, Rosaria, 45, and some neighbours fled, fearing they would be next. She escaped with her six children but, in the chaos, she became separated from all but her youngest daughter, whose hand she clutched tightly.

"We ran for kilometres. But even the bush was not safe," she said. Then they came across a group of armed men patrolling the area they had managed to reach, but instead of helping the women, they raped them. 

"They told us they needed to check that we were not involved with the insurgents," Rose recounted. "They ripped our clothes. They stripped us naked and physically beat us, mercilessly. They raped us. All in front of my daughter. Once they were done with us, we ran away naked and exposed." 

Since 2017, Northern Mozambique has been contending with armed hostilities that have caused millions to flee their homes. Over half a million people remain displaced, scattered across the various districts of Cabo Delgado province.

Raped and killed

Also in Africa, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has been plagued by scenes of conflict-related sexual violence for decades, more than 150 female prisoners a few weeks ago were raped and left to burn to death during a jailbreak when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in eastern DRC.

The male inmates, some of whom were killed by prison guards, plotted a mass escape as the M23 rebel alliance battled with Congolese forces in Goma over control of the city. More than 4,000 detainees fled the Muzenze prison that day.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told reporters that most of the female prisoners who were raped by escaping male inmates died in the fire. Up to 13 female inmates, all of whom had also been raped, survived the blaze.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was further verifying reports that 52 women were raped by Congolese troops in South Kivu, including alleged reports of gangrape. The office has been warning that sexual violence is becoming a weapon of war.

The conflict related rape plague is also present in Europe.

Allegations of rape and sexual violence in Ukraine have been numerous since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The United Nations found that Russian forces have committed the "vast majority" of human rights violations during the conflict. These crimes include the widespread perpetration of rape and sexual violence. Documented violence includes gang rape and forcing family members to watch while their children and mothers were sexually assaulted.

Pramila Patten, UN special representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, called the use of rape by Russian forces a "military strategy," and stated that it is being used as a "deliberate tactic to dehumanize the victims."

Pervasive throughout history

Rape and other forms of sexual violence have been pervasive in conflicts throughout history. The nature of the conflicts in each country differs vastly. Still, the horrifying use of sexual violence to torment civilian populations, punish ethnic, political, or cultural rivals, and assert and maintain control, is present in each case.

A UN report, jointly authored by the UN Office in Haiti and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, described armed gangs using sexual violence to "instill fear, intimidate, subjugate, and control local populations." Gangs employ sexual violence as a tactic in larger regiments of terror and violence, as mechanisms by which to punish people associated with rival gangs, as part of kidnappings, and to "assert power and control over people living in their own areas."

International data exposes an alarming levels of rape during conflict and its aftermath. Between 250,000 and 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, more than 60,000 in the civil war in Sierra Leone, between 20,000 and 50,000 in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996.

Though astonishing, in most cases the data underestimates, perhaps significantly, the actual numbers of victims, most of whom never report to authorities.

Sexual violence during conflict can be divided into three overarching categories: a war tactic, widely committed with an intentional purpose; tolerated, but not specifically ordered, by leaders; and committed independently by individuals when the opportunity arises.

Affirming that wartime sexual violence is one of history's greatest silences and one of today's most extreme atrocities, the United Nations Development Fund for Women says that in many contexts, sexual violence is not merely the action of rogue soldiers, but a deliberate tactic of warfare. It displaces, terrorises and destroys individuals, families and entire communities, reaching unthinkable levels of cruelty against women of all ages from infants to grandmothers.

In the words of Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert, former UN Division Commander for Eastern DRC (MONUC) "it is perhaps more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict."

The violence often leaves the survivors with emotional trauma and psychological damage, physical injuries, unwanted pregnancies, social stigma and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV.

Moreover, the fear of sexual violence holds communities hostage and prevents women and girls from participating in public life or attending school. The costs and consequences last for generations. And often, mass rape continues after the guns fall silent and peace treaties are signed.

Rape in conflict, when widespread and systematic, is now recognised as a crime against humanity and a war crime. However, in many cases it goes unpunished, perpetuating impunity.

Sexual violence is routinely ignored in peace negotiations. Indeed, after war, it often is far more likely to watch perpetrators rewarded as part of disarmament and peace-building agreements, than see their victims receiving care, justice or redress. On the contrary, rape survivors are often rejected by their own families and communities.

In many post-conflict countries, gender-based violence tops the list of crimes that the police have to address, even though it is severely under-reported. Even cases brought to the attention of the police are rarely investigated properly, seldom lead to arrests, and hardly ever conclude in convictions.

Children the main victims

Alongside the exorbitant number of cases of women and girls who continue to be rape victims in different violent conflicts, there are the sorrowing mothers of children, who are the primary victims in armed conflicts.

The United Nations found that Russian forces have committed the "vast majority" of human rights violations during the Ukrainian conflict. These crimes include the widespread perpetration of rape and sexual violence. Victims of sexual violence range in age from four to eighty-years-old. A UN report details a four-year-old child being forced to perform oral sex on a Russian soldier

In 2023 alone, the United Nations verified the recruitment and use of 8,655 children by parties to conflict with the highest numbers in the DRC, Myanmar, Syria, Mali, and Nigeria. While boys are disproportionately affected, girls are equally at risk, often forced into marriage or sexual exploitation. Children with disabilities face additional dangers.

Over 473 million children live in conflict zones, from Myanmar to the Palestinian occupied territory, Haiti to Sudan, Ukraine to the Sahel region.

Over half of the world's refugees are children. Many will spend their entire childhoods away from home, sometimes separated from their families. They may have witnessed or experienced violent acts and, in exile, are at risk of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or military recruitment.

Even if they somehow manage to survive, children are left with deep physical and psychological scars.

The involvement of civilians, especially children, and the destruction of infrastructures is not only a disaster, but essentially means that between the two sides only evil emerges the winner. It's not unusual see the bombing of civilians or the attacking of infrastructures necessary for their survival, or children freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit.

Victims' names have been changed to protect identity.