ECICW has always condemned rape as a weapon of war, whether in Ukraine, Congo, Sudan, Israel on October 7 or elsewhere. 

We decided at our last GA in Vilnius to amplify the impact of Resolution 1325 on rape used as a weapon of war, to support victims and to contribute to building coalitions for conflict resolution. That's why our Secretary General, Sylvie Lausberg, who attended the conference at the French National Assembly, provided a report.

October 7: A Day of Horror

October 7 marked a day of horror, the consequences of which continue to affect victims and their families. During this session at the French National Assembly, experts and witnesses spoke out to expose the brutal reality of sexual violence used as a weapon of war.

The Scale of Violence and the Challenge of Evidence

Witnesses from October 7 and legal experts highlighted the difficulty of establishing evidence of sexual crimes, despite the videos filmed by Hamas perpetrators. A mother of a victim asked this heartbreaking question: "How do we prove my daughter was raped before being murdered when only ashes remain?"

Beyond the Israeli context, Caroline Dayan addressed the violence endured by Afghan women under the Taliban regime, equating it with a terrorist group. In Ukraine, men have also been raped by Russian soldiers and mercenaries. In the Congo, similar practices are used with the same objectives: to humiliate, dehumanize, and force the woman to bear a child from her attacker, condemning her to social exclusion.

Rape, a weapon of systematic destruction

The conference underscored a recurring truth in conflicts: rape is not collateral damage, but a deliberate genocidal weapon. In Israel, women were shot after being raped, often with a bullet to the face to prevent identification. The goal: total dehumanization.

The example of Rwanda tragically illustrates this strategy: 500,000 rapes were committed during the 1994 Tutsi genocide, most of which were ignored. The international community took no significant legal action, and these crimes were never prosecuted by international institutions.

A major obstacle: silence and lack of legal recognition

 Michèle Hirsch, lawyer, shared her experience of a trial in Belgium, thirty years after the Tutsi genocide. She said she was shocked by the silence of the survivors, who had never spoken about what they endured. In Belgium’s first trial related to these crimes, the word "rape" was never even mentioned.

The issue of legal recognition is critical. While rape is recognized as a war crime, it is not consistently prosecuted. Moreover, there is no specific legal qualification for rape as a genocidal act, even though the evidence clearly demonstrates its role in the destruction of targeted groups

Judicial Training and the Need for International Justice

Charles-Emile Clesse, professor of legal sciences at U.L.B. and deputy director at the Judicial Training Institute, emphasized the lack of judicial training on these issues. He stressed the importance of raising psychological awareness, so that victims can be heard and recognized by the justice system.

In Iran, sexual violence is also systematic, yet the country has not signed international conventions that allow for prosecution. It is essential to bring these crimes before international courts, increase diplomatic pressure, and strengthen sanctions mechanisms.

What Levers for Action?

The discussion emphasized several action points: • Better legal classification of war and genocidal rapes. • Promote universal jurisdiction to prosecute these crimes in national courts. • Increase financial and human resources for legal proceedings. • Strengthen training for lawyers and judges. • Promote feminist diplomacy to fight the use of rape as a weapon of war.

A working group has been created within the Paris Bar Association, in partnership with the National Assembly, to address these issues and work on training legal professionals.

Conclusion

Rape as a war crime and genocidal tool remains underrecognized, minimized, and often unpunished. The conference highlighted the urgent need for collective mobilization to advance international justice and guarantee victims the right to speak and be acknowledged.

The testimonies heard should not only move us — they must call us to action. It is time to bring the perpetrators to justice and offer survivors the recognition and support they deserve