'Epidemic of violence' against women in Sudan, UK Foreign Secretary warns

The wars in Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine have led to an “epidemic of violence” against women and girls, the UK Foreign Secretary will say at the launch of a worldwide coalition to combat such crimes.

Yvette Cooper will tell the 16 Days of Global Activism summit on Tuesday that abuse is “crossing borders at unprecedented scale and speed”. She will pledge to make tackling violence against women part of “policies for peace” in countries such as Sudan.

“With conflicts raging in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, rape is increasingly being used as a weapon of war,” she will tell the launch of the All In coalition, a panel of leading campaigners who have called the issue a global emergency.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is to address the All In coalition. EPA

“Numbers alone are inadequate but they should shock us nonetheless,” she will say in London. “One in every three women and girls worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, 140 women and girls killed every day by a partner or close relative – more than 50,000 a year.”

Last month, Ms Cooper warned that protection for women from sexual violence was going backwards, with nearly a third of women and girls in conflict zones becoming victims. She said while the world experiences its worst cycle of conflict since the Second World War, more women than ever are being subjected to violence.

On Tuesday, she will call sexual violence a “scourge plaguing women”, causing an emergency at domestic and international level. The issue should also become part of policies on peace and security to tackle the use of rape as a weapon of war “from atrocities in El Fasher in Sudan to the war in Ukraine”.

Ms Cooper will also pledge to “go all in as Foreign Secretary” to ensure females around the world “can thrive and flourish, free from violence and free from fear”.

She will announce a new British package of nearly £5 million ($6.6