In armed conflicts around the world, sexual violence is perpetrated at an alarming rate – including against children. Multiple challenges limit evidence collection, preventing accountability for sexual violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Physicians for Human Rights and our partners are supporting child survivors of sexual violence through the creation of child-friendly spaces. […]

Table of Contents Introduction Conflict-related sexual violence is an enduring problem globally. The burden of this violence often affects the most vulnerable within society, including women and girls, racial or other minorities, refugees and internally displaced persons, and in particular, children. According to the UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report on children and armed conflict, almost 30,705 […]

PHR fights for justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and empowers the clinicians that support them.

Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review: Kenya

The escalating conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has caused a “massive influx” of widespread sexual violence perpetrated by the DRC military, armed groups associated with neighboring countries, United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, and community members, according to a new report published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).   This widespread […]

La recrudescence du conflit dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) a provoqué un « afflux massif » de violences sexuelles de grande ampleur, perpétrées par des militaires de la RDC, des groupes armés associés aux pays voisins, des forces de maintien de la paix de l’ONU et des membres des communautés, selon […]

Health care workers in DRC have reported a “massive influx of cases” of conflict-related sexual violence among adults and children.

One year after the international community shut down a United Nations monitoring mechanism, health workers in Ethiopia say the crisis in their country is far from over.

Все більша кількість випадків катувань і сексуального насильства в результаті дій російських сил в Україні потребує подальшої підтримки з боку української влади, щоб поліпшити документування злочинів і підтримку постраждалих, заявили сьогодні в організації Physicians for Human Rights (Лікарі за Права Людини – PHR).У новій аналітичній записці «Підтримка постраждалих від катувань та сексуального насильства, пов’язаного з […]

Increasing numbers of survivors of torture and sexual violence inflicted by Russian forces in Ukraine need further support from Ukrainian authorities to improve how the country’s justice system documents crimes and supports survivors, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.   A new PHR policy brief (Supporting Survivors of Torture and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in […]

PHR assessed the medico-legal documentation pathway in Ukraine to identify opportunities to strengthen systems to center survivors’ well-being, autonomy, and access to remedies.

Child-rights experts from Physicians for Human Rights are collaborating with clinicians at HEAL Africa to care for thousands of people displaced by conflict in North Kivu, including children who suffered sexual violence. 

“Imagine providing critical care to patients with no access to medications or equipment, while your salary is withheld, your basic needs are unmet, and the very place you call home is no longer safe. Hospitals are routinely attacked by combatants. Insidious acts of sexual violence persist, and places of healing are turned into death traps. […]

During its 2014 offensive, ISIS waged horrific violence in Iraq. ISIS targeted religious minorities, including the Yazidis, who suffered brutal attacks on their communities. Thousands of Yazidi men, women, and children were killed, forced into flight, or abducted, raped, and enslaved. Today, ten years later, most survivors are still waiting for justice.   Recognizing the […]

PHR submissions to the Fourth Cycle, 47th Session of the Human Rights Council (4 – 15 November, 2024): Submission for Universal Periodic Review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Submission for Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia

“If any of you worry about the issues that are going on in the world as you listen to the news every day and you feel somewhat powerless because the problems, the fractures, are too large and too many, I think you and I can take comfort that PHR is playing its part everywhere in […]

The 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva concluded last week. Headed by PHR’s Executive Director Sam Zarifi, JD, LLM, the PHR delegation included Christian De Vos, JD, PhD, director of research and investigations, and Uliana Poltavets, Ukraine emergency response coordinator. The team presented several interventions before the Council, partnered […]

The conflict that started in Tigray, Ethiopia in 2020 continues to cause devastating harm to civilians and the health sector and has led to a large-scale humanitarian and human rights crisis that continues in Tigray and has spread to other regions of Ethiopia. PHR has worked with our medical, public health, and human rights partners […]

Alors que le conflit dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) continue de s’intensifier, le partenaire médical de Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), HEAL Africa, fournit des soins intensifs aux survivants des violences sexuelles et sexistes. Nous avons échangé avec HEAL Africa pour en savoir plus sur la fourniture des services des soins […]

As the conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to escalate, PHR medical partner HEAL Africa is providing intensive care to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

The Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) calls on the Government of Kenya to prevent and ensure accountability for femicide by training and supporting the National Police Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to investigate and prosecute cases of gender-based violence. At least 10 women have been killed in the first month […]

Alors que les élections présidentielles commencent aujourd’hui en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) lance un appel à tous les acteurs pour empêcher une nouvelle escalade de la violence et de la crise humanitaire dans le pays.  « Les enjeux pour les élections en RDC ne pourraient pas être des plus […]

As presidential elections begin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) redoubles its call on all actors to prevent further escalation of violence and the humanitarian crisis in the country.   “The stakes for the DRC’s elections couldn’t be higher. Conflict in eastern Congo has already left almost […]

Survivors and civil society organizations today called on the Attorney General of Kenya to immediately enforce a 2020 High Court decision that found the government of Kenya liable for its failure to investigate and prosecute sexual violence in the wake of contested 2007–2008 presidential elections in the country. Speaking in Nairobi, eight survivors of the […]

The failure of the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Independent Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) prevents survivors and victims of human rights violations from any credible access to justice and could lead to further atrocities, said the Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P), Health Professionals Network […]