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"I have met victims of sexual violence. I am haunted by their testimony," he told members.
The debate was called to discuss the implementation of a Security Council resolution adopted last year that elevated rape and sexual violence to the status of a war crime when perpetrated as part of a systematic attack.
Ban also urged the council to immediately authorize the establishment of an independent panel that would be tasked with probing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The panel would focus on conflicts in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan, three areas where rape is routinely used as part of warfare.
Ending sexual violence, particularly in Africa, is also a proclaimed priority for the United States. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to raise the issue when she travels to DRC next week.
There, she is to meet with victims of the sexual violence in eastern DRC, where more than 3,500 women have been raped since the start of the year, according to a UN report.
US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice also told the Council of her moving encounter with a rape survivor during a visit to DRC in May.
The woman, said Rice, asked her, "with tears in her eyes, to do everything that I could and that we could to end this horrible systematic violence that she and so many others had experienced.
"And I gave her my word that I would. And I intend to keep my word," she added.
Rice also stressed the need to put the fight against sexual violence at the top of the UN agenda.
"Efforts to combat sexual violence must be placed squarely on the political agenda as well when countries are searching for lasting stability and peace," she said.
"The UN and its member states and future mediators should address sexual violence in today's peace processes and include them from the very start in future peace talks," she added.
Other Security Council members also backed calls for stronger measures to root out sexual violence.
"France backs the principle of a panel tasked with investigating and proposing more effective mechanisms to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence," said its deputy ambassador to the UN, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
He said Paris also supported the appointment of a top UN official tasked with "spearheading the fight against sexual violence throughout the UN system."
Rice said more women should be part of peace mediation and negotiating teams.
"Where women have been more directly involved in peace processes, the negotiated solutions have been more likely to include the concerns of the society as a whole," Marianne Mollmann, a women's rights advocate at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
And HRW Friday urged that a UN top official be appointed to supervise efforts to halt the violation of women's rights, criticizing the world body for being "almost all talk and hardly any action" on this issue.
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The debate was called to discuss the implementation of a Security Council resolution adopted last year that elevated rape and sexual violence to the status of a war crime when perpetrated as part of a systematic attack.
Ban also urged the council to immediately authorize the establishment of an independent panel that would be tasked with probing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The panel would focus on conflicts in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan, three areas where rape is routinely used as part of warfare.
Ending sexual violence, particularly in Africa, is also a proclaimed priority for the United States. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to raise the issue when she travels to DRC next week.
There, she is to meet with victims of the sexual violence in eastern DRC, where more than 3,500 women have been raped since the start of the year, according to a UN report.
US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice also told the Council of her moving encounter with a rape survivor during a visit to DRC in May.
The woman, said Rice, asked her, "with tears in her eyes, to do everything that I could and that we could to end this horrible systematic violence that she and so many others had experienced.
"And I gave her my word that I would. And I intend to keep my word," she added.
Rice also stressed the need to put the fight against sexual violence at the top of the UN agenda.
"Efforts to combat sexual violence must be placed squarely on the political agenda as well when countries are searching for lasting stability and peace," she said.
"The UN and its member states and future mediators should address sexual violence in today's peace processes and include them from the very start in future peace talks," she added.
Other Security Council members also backed calls for stronger measures to root out sexual violence.
"France backs the principle of a panel tasked with investigating and proposing more effective mechanisms to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence," said its deputy ambassador to the UN, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
He said Paris also supported the appointment of a top UN official tasked with "spearheading the fight against sexual violence throughout the UN system."
Rice said more women should be part of peace mediation and negotiating teams.
"Where women have been more directly involved in peace processes, the negotiated solutions have been more likely to include the concerns of the society as a whole," Marianne Mollmann, a women's rights advocate at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
And HRW Friday urged that a UN top official be appointed to supervise efforts to halt the violation of women's rights, criticizing the world body for being "almost all talk and hardly any action" on this issue.
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