Verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence more than doubled worldwide in 2025, with nearly 10,000 recorded across 21 conflict-affected countries, a United Nations report says.
Presenting the UN Secretary-General’s annual report at UN Headquarters on Friday, the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, said the 9,788 verified cases marked a sharp rise from 4,617 in 2024. She stressed the figure captured only documented incidents and was far below the true scale.
The report documented rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, trafficking and abductions by both State and non-State actors. Women and girls were the overwhelming majority of victims, though the UN also recorded cases involving men and boys, particularly in detention as a form of torture, and heightened risks for LGBTQI+ people.
Victims ranged from children as young as one to people aged 70, including those living with disabilities. Many cases involved extreme brutality, the UN said, among them killings after rape and suicides among survivors.
Patten said armed groups and criminal networks were using sexual violence to control territory and populations, especially in fragile, resource-rich regions, while displacement and weakened protection systems left women and girls more exposed. Restrictions on humanitarian access and funding shortages, she added, were making abuses harder to document and survivors harder to reach.
The UN urged governments and the Security Council to strengthen prevention, accountability and survivor-centred support, calling for unhindered humanitarian access, stronger monitoring and sanctions, and more funding for medical, psychosocial and legal services. Patten said the violations were “global in scale, devastating in impact,” and pressed for a response focused on survivors rather than political posturing.
