Islamic State and other terrorists have turned sexual violence into an “epidemic” and is a “crime against humanity,” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor told the Security Council.
In his remarks in a Council session on Women, Peace and Security, Prosor stated:
Sexual violence in conflict has become a weapon of choice because it is cheap, silent and effective. Instead of bullets or bombs, the perpetrators employ barbarism and brutality….
Sexual violence as a tool in war is not a women’s issue. It is a crime of humanity against humanity.
ISIS, Boko Haram and Al Qaeda have publicized and boasted of their rapping women and using them as sex slaves.
Prosor cited several examples and said, “Women are raped numerous times a day. Young girls are forced to call their parents to detail being gang-raped by dozens of men. The captured women and girls are sold as brides to Islamist fighters for as little as $25 or given as “sabaya” – a reward for fighters.”
No less significant is that many countries, especially those in the Middle East and North Africa, condone crimes against women and often accept mistreatment as a proper way of life.
“If a nation refuses to prosecute domestic sexual abuse, marital rape, and honor killings in times of peace then there is little hope for justice in times of war and conflict,” Prosor stated.
So which country did the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women single out in its annual report last month?
Saudi Arabia, where women lashed for not behaving according to Islamic law in public?
Somalia, where women are sold?
Iran, where there are no laws against domestic violence and where adultery is punishable by stoning?
In Egypt, where there is no law criminalizing domestic violence specifically and where forms of violence against women, including child marriage and female genital?
Of course not.
The only Middle East country named in the report was Israel, where the “occupation” has supposed caused high “unemployment and poverty, especially among women,” in Judea and Samaria.
And what does the United States have to say about sexual violence against women in Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.
Washington speaks out forcefully against it in the politically proper forums while continuing “business as usual” when it sells weapons and makes deals with Iran to allow it retain its nuclear development infrastructure.
