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# A war that can be won
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/war-that-can-be-won/
- Published: 2007-12-03T17:12:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T02:20:04.000Z
- Description: The UN's John Holmes on confronting sexual violence worldwide Plus: blogging 16 days
- Author: Jane Gabriel
- Tags: Gender & sexuality, #Migrated, women's human rights, women's movements, gender justice, 16 Days, 2007-8, violence against women, gender, sexual violence, podcasts, Continuum of Violence, 16 Days: activism against gender based violence, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 14:30, #appended-excerpt

At the [Commission on the Status of Women](http://statusofwomen.wordpress.com/?ref=opendemocracy.net) in February 2007 the United Nations launched an agency wide campaign to '[Stop Rape Now](http://www.stoprapenow.org/?ref=opendemocracy.net)'. John Holmes was then in his first week as Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and declared that tackling sexual violence against women in conflict was a "war that could be won".

Ten months into the job, having met women who have been mutilated by sexual violence in conflict, he told Jane Gabriel that he is a 'marked man': his commitment to reducing the violence against women through the work of the United Nations is increased, but the limitations of what the UN can do remain enormous.

  
The UN's John Holmes on confronting sexual violence worldwide  
Plus: [blogging 16 days](http://opendemocracy.net/blog/5050/?ref=opendemocracy.net)