WAR IS RAPE

Russia's war on Ukraine: Sexual violence as a weapon of war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said investigators had received reports of "hundreds of cases of rape" in areas previously occupied by Russian troops, including sexual assaults of small children. Russian troops have been accused of widespread atrocities across the country, particularly in areas around Kyiv from which they have now withdrawn. The UN has called for an independent investigation into these allegations. For more insight, FRANCE 24 is joined by Hillary Margolis, Senior Researcher in the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "What we would hope is that [the investigation] would entail very well-trained and experienced investigators who are accustomed to documenting this kind of crime that's highly sensitive and that does often entail a significant degree of trauma." In addition to sexual violence, Human Rights Watch is also investigating other types of war crimes: "We are always looking into a wide range of abuses in any conflict," explains Ms. Margolis, "including summary executions, which we've already documented and published, to cases of torture, to use of particular weapons, and any kinds of atrocities against civilians in conflict."