By Katie Bacharach
The UN
News Centre reported on the second official visit to the Central African
Republic (CAR) made by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual
Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, on March 17 to 19. She met with
State officials, civil society representatives, and humanitarian workers to
discuss practical arrangements for the prevention of and response to
conflict-related sexual violence.
Displaced persons in CAR face a constant
threat of atrocities committed by perpetrators of inter-communal and inter-religious
violence, including rape and gang rape, forced marriage, sexual mutilation,
abduction, and sexual slavery. Ms. Bangura agreed to the U.N.-backed deployment
of a rapid response unit of the national gendarmerie to respond to incidents of
sexual violence in conflict in an effort to combat the climate of impunity.
