From December 2013 up until today, it has been used as a weapon of war, we allege, the UN alleges, predominantly by the government forces and associated militia. What was so striking for us in our most recent investigation is the impact that has had on the social fabric. Many of the men are dead, and the households are led by women. They tell stories of the kidnapping of their children over a period of two and a half years. We're talking about girls who are kidnapped, taken to bases, government militia bases, and used as sex slaves, and sometimes shot dead, sometimes released. No one is preventing this. No one is stopping this. The government has said publicly that it will do its best to prevent sexual violence, but this hasn't happened.
As I said, what was so striking for us is the damage it is now doing to the communities. These communities are suffering enormously over this campaign of killing, sexual violence, and disappearances, in addition to destroying their houses, stealing their cattle, and stealing their food. As I said in my statement, this is an existential crisis, because, as you may know, we have 10,500 troops in South Sudan who have been there since 2013, and we don't have enough troops to protect women and girls.