WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed onto a UN-sponsored campaign pressuring governments around the world to find ways to end violence against women, her spokesman said Wednesday.
"The secretary signed the UNIFEM (the United Nations Development Fund for Women) 'Say-No-to-Violence' pledge as part of the campaign at the Web site, saynotoviolence.org," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
In signing the document on Tuesday, Rice released a statement describing the campaign's growing momentum and steps it has taken.
"One year ago... UNIFEM began its global campaign to advocate among publics and governments for an end to violence against women," Rice said in the statement read by McCormack.
"During its June 2008 Security Council presidency, the United States focused on actions that would follow from UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security," Rice said.
On June 19, she chaired a UN debate that culminated in the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1820, which she said "condemns the use of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.
"Violence against women remains a fact of life in countries worldwide," Rice said in the statement.
"Like poverty, HIV-AIDS, poor maternal health, and lack of access to education, violence against women is an ill that affects the person, her community, and her nation," Rice said.
With the campaign going strong, she said, "we should dedicate ourselves to creating awareness among individuals and communities of the great damage violence against women afflicts and commit ourselves to end this atrocity."
During the debate in New York in June, Rice cited the example of Myanmar where she said "soldiers have regularly raped women and girls even as young as eight years old."
In the meantime, Rice said the Myanmar junta keeps opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman, under house arrest instead of allowing her to take the office as the country's elected leader.
Rice also referred to widespread acts of sexual violence in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan.
The top US diplomat also highlighted acts of sexual violence perpetrated by UN peacekeepers in several countries around the world.
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