Displacement

In today’s conflicts, civilians are increasingly caught in the crossfire. Conflict-related sexual violence is used to cause displacement, affect reproduction and ethnicity, deter opposition, offer troop incentives and undermine social and community cohesion. In recent years, concerns about the use of sexual violence have increased in two specific instances. First, there is the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Secondly, the increase in flows of people fleeing from conflict has increased migrants’ risk of falling prey to human traffickers, including by being a victim of sexual abuse and exploitation.

Sexual violence has emerged as a constant of the new cycle based on conflict, trafficking in persons and migration. Migrants, especially women and girls, are highly vulnerable to trafficking for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation. In our efforts to manage the unprecedented migration flows in the Mediterranean, Italy recently adopted a new law on protecting foreign unaccompanied minors that provides minors with specific assistance, including legal assistance, cultural mediation services and identification, and promotes family reunification.