How Can We Call Ourselves Civilized While Women Are Victims of Barbarity?

 By US Secretary of State John Kerry and UK Foreign  Secretary Philip Hammond

Women and Children Rescued by Nigerian Soldiers from Boko Haram
 extremists Arrive at Military Office in Maiduguri, northern Nigeria.

The abhorrent sexual violence waged by groups such as Isis and Boko Haram must be countered by governments and at local levels.

In Syria and Iraq, Isis terrorists have turned kidnapping and the sale of women and girls into recruitment and fundraising tools. Thousands of women have been enslaved and raped. In Somalia and Nigeria, terrorists have abducted scores of young women to force them into sham “marriages” characterized by degradation and abuse.

These practices are a stain on the conscience of the world. Sexual abuse is not a legitimate tactic of conflict or war. Women and girls are not slaves to be awarded to terrorist fighters. And mislabeling this abuse as “marriage” does not alter the reality that rape is rape and rape is wrong.

Combating Human Trafficking

The United States Congress requires U.S. Government agencies provide certain reports to it periodically.  The State Department for example annually provides country reports on International Religious Freedom, Human Rights, Terrorism, Narcotics Control strategy and Trafficking in Persons among others.  Through the reports the U.S. Congress is informed of what is happening and the role the U.S. is playing in tackling the subject of the reports.  The Trafficking in Persons Report or TIP for example seeks to stimulate action and create partnerships around the world in the fight against modern day slavery. Slavery is exactly what human trafficking is.