From Pelicot to Epstein, the global emergency of violence against women (By UN News)
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Whether it is the Pelicot case or the Epstein "files", violence against women has become a "global emergency", the UN human rights chief said on Friday in Geneva, urging states "to investigate all alleged crimes, protect survivors and ensure that justice is done without fear or favoritism".
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, the Pelicot and Epstein cases both demonstrate "the extent of the exploitation and abuse suffered by women and girls".
"Does anyone think there aren't many other men like Dominique Pelicot or Jeffrey Epstein?" he asked before the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
"These horrific abuses are made possible by social systems that silence women and girls and protect powerful men from accountability," he added.
In the Pelicot case, also known as the Mazan rapes, Dominique Pelicot is accused of drugging his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, to deliver her to dozens of men recruited online between 2011 and 2020. By refusing a closed hearing, Gisèle Pelicot transformed the trial of some 50 defendants into a public confrontation about consent, chemical submission and collective responsibility.
50,000 women and girls killed in 2024
On an international scale, the Jeffrey Epstein case also revealed the extent of sex trafficking networks worldwide. The American financier was found hanged in prison in 2019, before being tried for sex trafficking of minors.
Two separate cases, but the same shockwave: that of a system where control, complicity and silence allow sexual violence to flourish far beyond private spheres.
According to the head of human rights, "violence against women, particularly femicide, constitutes a global emergency".
According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), approximately 50,000 women and girls were killed worldwide in 2024, most by members of their own families .
Mr. Türk also expressed deep concern about the increasing number of attacks, including online, against women in public life. “Every female politician I meet tells me they constantly face misogyny and online hate.”
-0- PANA MA 1March2026
