FILE- In this March 16, 2015, file photo, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a speech during a symposium of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations at the UN University in Tokyo. Ki-moon said in a report released Monday, April 13, 2015, that 2014 was marked by harrowing accounts of rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage being used by extremists including the Islamic State group and Boko Haram. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File) (The Associated Press)
UNITED NATIONS – A new U.N. report says 2014 was marked by harrowing accounts of rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage being used by extremists including the Islamic State group and Boko Haram.
The report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released Monday urges the Security Council to recognize that sexual violence can not only be employed as a tactic of war but as a tactic of terror.
The report expressed "grave concern" at sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups, including those promoting extremist ideologies in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Libya and Yemen.
It said efforts "to degrade or destroy" the Islamic State group, Boko Haram, al-Shabab, Ansar Dine and al-Qaida affiliates "are an essential part of the fight against conflict-related sexual violence."
The report focuses on 19 countries where sexual violence occurs.
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