UN rights chief slams violence against women, calls it ‘a global emergency’
Volker Turk highlights the segregation of women in Afghanistan and sex trafficking cases against US financier Jeffrey Epstein as examples
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk denounced “social systems that silence women and girls” allowing powerful men to abuse them with impunity.
He highlighted the extreme situation in Afghanistan, warning that the “system of segregation imposed on women is reminiscent of apartheid, based on gender rather than race”.
He also pointed to two cases that had recently caused shock waves around the world: those of convicted Epstein and of French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot.
Both cases “show the extent of the exploitation and abuse of women and girls”, Turk said. “Does anyone think there are not many more men like Dominique Pelicot or Jeffrey Epstein?”