Violence against women fact for Dec. 4

[December 04, 2013]  Zonta International seeks to advance the status of women worldwide by improving the legal, political, economic, educational, health and professional status of women at the global and local levels through service and advocacy.

With the generosity and collective action of Zontians and friends around the world, Zonta International has supported projects in 46 countries, provided scholarships and awards to women around the globe, and been a powerful advocate for change in our local and international communities, thereby transforming the world and women's place in it.

The local Zonta organization wants to help raise awareness of the crime of violence against women locally and around the world by publishing 16 facts, one per day, during the 16 Days of Activism.

December 4 -- day 10

Fact 10: Sexual violence is widespread in settings of conflict, post-conflict and displacement.

In armed conflicts, the breakdown of social support structures, families, and communities, and the disruption of services leave women and children vulnerable to sexual violence, including rape by combatants and intimate partners, and sexual exploitation by humanitarian actors. Women may submit to sexual abuse to obtain food and other basic life necessities. Rape is used to brutalize and humiliate civilians (including men) as a tactic of war, and at times for ethnic cleansing.

[Copy of text received]