The UN's special representative on sexual violence in conflict said on Wednesday that verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence more than doubled worldwide in 2025, while affirming that “the true toll is far higher."

"The annual report of the Secretary-General documents 9,788 cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations in 2025 – more than double the number recorded last year," Pramila Patten told a UN Security Council open debate on the issue, adding: "The true toll is far higher, with humanitarians in the field estimating that for every case that reaches a clinic, 10 to 20 go unreported and unaddressed."

She cautioned that the figures likely understate the crisis due to "access constraints, insecurity, collapsed systems of care, UN Mission drawdowns, and entrenched social stigma."

Patten said the report covers 21 situations of concern, with the highest number of UN-verified cases recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.

Children among the most affected

She noted that nearly 3,000 cases were committed against children, "representing a 37% increase from last year."

The report's annex lists 77 parties, 62 of them non-state actors, with more than 65% classified as persistent perpetrators. New listings this cycle include non-state actors in the DRC and Haiti, along with two state actors: Israel and Russia.

On Israel, Patten said that "patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence persist, primarily in detention settings, but also at checkpoints and during military operations, with an increase in the number of verified cases, despite victims being pressured not to report abuse."

She stressed that the parties list "is not, and was never intended to be, a political instrument; it is a protection tool," adding that inclusion "is not an end point, but an opportunity for engagement."

Accountability

Patten urged stronger accountability from governments. She also hailed DRC's Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka as "the first woman to hold this high office," with DRC chairing the Security Council for July.

Tuluka stressed that the report "confirms an alarming increase in verified cases, and this provides us with the factual and institutional basis that we need for our debate in the Democratic Republic of Congo."

"Our challenge now is to make sure that this promise does effectively reach the survivors," she said.

Pointing to budgetary cuts, Tuluka warned that the cuts have "direct consequences on the life of survivors, on the capacity of states to prosecute the perpetrators, and on the credibility of our collective commitment; they also weaken our collective capacity to bridge information gaps."