Young people\u2019s lives are being ruined by sexual violence in South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic, delegates at a sexual violence conference heard.<\/p>\n
The Global Summit to End Sexual Vio\u00adlence in Conflict, held in London from 10-13 June, attracted more than 1,700 delegates and 79 ministers, making it the biggest gathering on the subject ever held.<\/p>\n
Co-chaired by Britain\u2019s Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, who is Special Envoy for the UN High Commission\u00ader for Refugees, the summit agreed practical steps to tackle impunity for the use of rape as a weapon of war and to begin to change global attitudes to these crimes, urging the in\u00adternational community to join forces against war rape in the same way that previous gen\u00aderations joined forces to put an end to slavery and the use of landmines.<\/p>\n
\u201cA society that believes in human rights and equality cannot know about the way rape is used as a weapon of war and then simply ignore it,\u201d reads the Chair\u2019s Summary of the Summit. \u201cSexual violence is not an inevitable side-effect of war. It can be stopped if perpe\u00adtrators are held to account and attitudes and practices change\u2026 This is a matter of our common humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discussions at the summit involved some of the world\u2019s leading authorities in the field, as well as youth and minority groups. Consid\u00adering \u2018lessons learned\u2019 from conflict-afflicted countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, attendees discussed the roles of military, peacekeeping and hu\u00admanitarian agencies in acting to prevent con\u00adflict-related sexual violence.<\/p>\n
Jolie said: \u201cWe need to put survivors in the forefront of our efforts \u2013 not as victims, but as inspiring and resilient people who can guide us to the right choices and decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWarzone rape must remain at the top of the international agenda \u2013 at the Se\u00adcurity Council, in regional bodies and in the foreign policy of each of the countries gath\u00adered here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Statement of Action was signed and a range of legal, humanitarian and security sec\u00adtor reforms were agreed upon that will play a critical role in dispelling the culture of ex\u00ademption for sexual violence in conflict.<\/p>\n
Four key areas for change were addressed: improvement of accountability; increased support for survivors and their dependants; promotion of gender equality and security; and the full integration of responses to sexu\u00adal-and gender-based violence in all peace and security efforts \u2013 including within the justice sector, and police and military training.<\/p>\n
British Foreign Secretary William Hague<\/p>\n
The summit urged states to strengthen do\u00admestic laws so that perpetrators can be reli\u00adably prosecuted in the country in which their crimes were committed, and reiterated the fact that states hold responsibility for breach\u00ades of international law committed by their armed forces.<\/p>\n
It was agreed that, during ceasefires and peace negotiations, no amnesties should be given to those who commit sexual violence during conflict. International strategic co-op\u00aderation must also be improved.<\/p>\n
However, attendees admitted that good laws and international agreements would not be enough if attitudes don\u2019t change. The sum\u00admit appealed to faith groups to help spearhead this effort through their networks and influ\u00adences, as they are uniquely placed to change views, and challenge cultural and social norms.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s groups also have a history of playing an important role in localised me\u00addiation and reconciliation efforts, delegates heard. However, women remain largely ex\u00adcluded from formal processes, despite often having more access and legitimacy than of\u00adficial negotiators.<\/p>\n
But it isn\u2019t only women who are affected. Domestic legislation addressing sexual vio\u00adlence needs to be gender neutral, delegates said, and crimes against any person must be prosecuted. Children born of conflict-related rape suffer lifelong consequences, as do girl-child soldiers \u2018married\u2019 to combatants and forced into sexual slavery, and men and boys held in detention who are systematically raped as a form of punishment or torture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Young people\u2019s lives are being ruined by sexual violence in South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic, delegates at a sexual violence conference heard. The Global Summit to End Sexual Vio\u00adlence in Conflict, held in London from 10-13 June, attracted more than 1,700 delegates and 79 ministers, making it the biggest gathering on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[182,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10367,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10366\/revisions\/10367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-briefing.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}