Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his attendance. He addressed some of my questions on the millennium development goals, the UN Human Rights Council and the review of the White Paper on Irish Aid.

Everyone is not on the same page in terms of recognising sexual violence as one of the most horrific crimes that can be committed in conflict. The sheer scale of the brutality and the lack of accountability are nothing short of sickening. Recently, I read articles about the survivors of sexual violence. We often hear the stories of women in this regard, but we also hear stories about men who have been brutally raped and what happened to them afterwards, for example, the social stigma, their wives leaving them, their families abandoning them and the ensuing health issues. This matter is not often to the fore and there is little documentation of the existence or impact of sexual violence on men and boys. We must highlight the matter much more. The evidence points to a serious but under-reported problem. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, it is estimated that men and boys comprise at least 4% to 10% of survivors of sexual violence. This issue is close to my heart and I have read heart-rending personal accounts.