On June 19, the international community marks the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict – a day to honor the strength of survivors and recommit to the pursuit of justice and healing. This year’s theme, “The Intergenerational Impact of Sexual Violence” calls global attention to the profound and enduring harm inflicted not only on survivors, but on families, communities, and future generations.
For over 35 years, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has partnered with health workers around the world to confront conflict-related sexual violence. Our work is guided by the understanding that the impacts of violence reverberate across generations, and that justice and healing can begin, often, with a health professional.
A Holistic Model Rooted in Health and Human Rights
PHR’s work addresses the wide range of impacts of conflict-related sexual violence through a unique model that combines:
- Rigorous, science-based forensic documentation and research to expose patterns of perpetration of support accountability;
- Capacity strengthening for medical, legal, law enforcement, and psycho-social professionals to equip them with the tools and skills to response effectively and ethically;
- Trauma-informed, survivor-centered care that prioritize survivor safety, agency, and healing;
- Multisectoral networks of professionals who coordinate to support survivors on the pathway to care and justice; and
- Strategic advocacy rooted in evidence to advance policy change, promote accountability, uphold legal standards, and improve care for survivors.
In countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Syria, and Ukraine, PHR works hand-in-hand with frontline health workers who play a critical role in identifying, documenting, and responding to conflict-related sexual violence – often under conditions of instability and extreme resource scarcity. These providers are not only caregivers. They are witnesses, advocates, and essential agents in the fight for accountability.
Documenting Abuse – and Its Long-Term Impact
Health workers are often the first to see and identify the physical and psychological consequences of sexual violence, including among children. In conflict settings, those consequences can span a lifetime – shaping survivors’ access to education, health care, livelihood, and social inclusion.
PHR partners with medical professionals to equip them with the tools to document injuries, collect forensic evidence, and translate clinical observations into court-admissible records. In the DRC, our work with clinicians helped expose the staggering scale of conflict-related sexual violence, including cases involving children – and contributed to landmark convictions, such as the 2017 Kavumu judgment, where children were the targets of brutal sexual violence and the forensic evidence gathered by health professionals in the community played a pivotal role in securing justice for the young survivors and their families.
Through our award-winning MediCapt app, PHR supports clinicians to securely record and transmit medical evidence of sexual violence to the justice sector to support accountability. More effective than traditional paper forms, MediCapt enables clinicians to capture comprehensive forensic medical evidence to inform investigations, strengthen prosecutions, and improve the likelihood that perpetrators will be held accountable.
Building Bridges Between Medicine and Justice
PHR’s capacity development programs foster collaboration among health professionals, law enforcement, lawyers, and judges. In Kenya, DRC, Iraq, Ukraine, and beyond, we’ve helped establish multisectoral networks that ensure survivors receive coordinated, respectful care and support.
We train providers not only in forensic documentation, but in trauma-informed approaches that recognize the specific needs of young survivors and mitigate the risks of re-traumatization. These trainings are co-developed with local professionals and are continually updated to reflect global best practices in the collection, documentation, preservation, use, and transfer of forensic evidence of sexual violence.
We set standards for how professionals can support child survivors. PHR developed, in partnership with a global community of practice, foundational principles to provide key considerations for professionals to use when developing and implementing consent and assent processes for child survivors of sexual violence that respect children’s right to be heard and evolving capacity within trauma-informed justice and reparation processes.
By empowering health workers to advocate for survivors and interface effectively with the justice system, PHR helps ensure that healing and accountability can happen in tandem.
Meeting the Moment: Rising Need, Shrinking Support
The intergenerational impact of sexual violence underscores the urgency of long-term, systemic solutions. Yet even as needs rise, funding for survivor-centered, evidence-based programs is diminishing.
PHR is calling for renewed investment in health and justice systems that support survivors – especially children – and hold perpetrators to account. In the midst of a broader erosion of human rights and shrinking support for aid, PHR and our partners are advocating to ensure that the critical funding for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence is secured to enable healing, recovery, and redress.
Our partnerships on the ground demonstrate what is possible with sufficient support: real impact, scalable models, and a pathway to justice grounded in care.
A Call to Action: Justice Begins with Health Workers
This June 19, as we reflect on the enduring harm of sexual violence across generations, we recognize the immense courage and resilience of survivors of all ages and their families and communities who have endured this violence, and we appreciate the immense role of health workers who bear witness, collect evidence, and stand with survivors of all ages to support their justice process and healing journey. Together, we can build a future where no child inherits the trauma of unaddressed violence – and where every survivor’s path to healing begins with care, dignity, and justice.