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Thousands of women are beaten or raped every day, the often forgotten victims of conflicts all across the world.

As many as 50,000 women were raped during the war in Bosnia. In conflicts in West Africa and Northern Uganda thousands of young girls have been kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery and prostitution. Rape is rampant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has again been used as a weapon of war, a tactic used to terrorise, destroy and humiliate communities. Its impact is devastating.

In May 2007, the European Council called for significant scaling-up of programmes to combat violence against women, including in conflict and post-conflict situations. But we need to keep up the pressure to see these words turned into action.

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