Sheryl Sandberg Instagram – It was an honor to join Secretary @hillaryclinton, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@usun), Ambassador Melanne Verveer, and many inspiring human rights activists to stand together against conflict-related sexual violence.
I spoke with Jeff Gettleman (@gettlemanjeffrey), Hala Al-Karib, and Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina_ua) about their experiences documenting sexual violence crimes. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Jeff talked about the challenges he’s faced gathering the stories of victims given the trauma they’ve experienced and how he writes “not just to inform, but to move people.” A gender advocate with over 20 years of experience working across Africa, Hala discussed how sexual violence has become tragically normalized and her efforts to prevent women from being seen as collateral damage during conflict. Oleksandra, a Nobel Prize-winning human rights lawyer, has helped document more than 62,000 episodes of war crimes in Ukraine. She reminded us that delivering justice for victims starts with ensuring their voices are heard. That’s exactly why we gathered.
The world’s response to each conflict deeply matters because it sets the precedent for how we will respond to the next one. Perpetrators must be held accountable — in Sudan, Ukraine, Israel, and anywhere these crimes occur. To overlook any instance of systematic sexual violence is to undo 30 years of progress. We cannot afford for rape to be accepted as an inevitable part of war — no matter the politics or the polarization of our time.
Thank you Secretary Clinton for using your voice at this incredibly critical moment. You have built a better world for every generation of women and girls after you. I will never be able to thank you enough.
You can watch the full event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-HMhmyhu9k
Photo credit: @ShaharAzran1 | Posted on 17/Feb/2024 01:38:39