UK to impose sanctions on those using rape as a weapon of war

Sexual violence will not be tolerated, says Foreign Secretary as Yazidi survivor Murad calls for an end to impunity

Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad. AFP

The UK will employ sanctions to address crimes of sexual violence in conflict zones, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has announced.

He made the comments on Monday while addressing a conference in London that has brought representatives of 70 countries together to tackle the problem.

It heard from Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, who was raped and threatened with execution unless she converted to the ISIS version of Islam. She said sexual violence is occurring in at least 18 conflicts today and it is “clear that we need a stronger global response”.

“We need to make a lot more noise,” she told the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Conference 2022 at which the UK’s three-year strategy, which includes £12.5 million of new funding to increase the global response, was announced.

“It’s time to use every tool we have — sanctions, international trials and universal jurisdiction — to show that sexual violence in conflict will not be tolerated.

“We must make state and non-state actors think twice about the consequences of these crimes. Ending the status quo of impunity is essential for preventing people around the world from being subjected to experiences like mine.”

Speaking at the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Conference in London on Monday, Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, said: “Sexual violence is the most cruel, most animalistic way to prove mastership over someone. And for victims of this kind of violence, it is difficult to testify in war times because nobody feels safe. There is danger and they are concerned that the military may come back and do it again.”

Referring to claims Russian servicemen have carried out such attacks in Ukraine, she added: “There has to be a global response to this. Unfortunately, such war crimes will keep on going in the world as long as the servicemen think that they can go without any punishment.” She later met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty in Downing Street.

First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, right, is greeted by Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty outside 10 Downing Street in London. PA

Mr Cleverly said: “I can announce that in December we will be using sanctions to specifically address the abhorrent crimes of sexual violence.”

“We have to face this as an international united community, led by the survivors.

“Because the scale of suffering is unacceptable. Sexual violence is not inevitable. It will not be tolerated.”

He said the threat of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war should bring immediate international condemnation, and swift action to stop those attacks before they start.

“So today, we stand in solidarity, to support survivors and to bring justice. But also to send an unequivocal message to those who order, allow or perpetrate sexual violence: we will not tolerate it and we will push for perpetrators to be prosecuted.”

The UK also used the event to announce other programmes, including £3.45 million in separate funding to tackle gender-based violence in Ukraine for the UN Population Fund, on top of £2.5 million to prosecute atrocities.

“As part of the overall fund, I am committing £1.8 million over three years for projects in priority countries, including Iraq, South Sudan, Colombia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Mr Cleverly.

That kind of funding has made a real difference in recent years, he said.

“In Bosnia and Herzegovina we supported changes in the law to recognise children born of wartime rape as civilian victims — providing them with important legal protections. We’re now building a global coalition of countries to protect other children in the same situation.”

His comments came as new evidence shows an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of women and girls in places affected by conflict endure sexual violence.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s special representative for preventing sexual violence in conflict and minister for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the UN, said “sexual violence is tragically an all-too-common consequence” in war.

“Right now, in Ukraine, in Tigray, in the Democratic Republic of Congo — to name but three conflict areas — civilians, mostly women and girls, are sickeningly facing rape and sexual abuse in active conflict zones. The aggressors usually walk away from their crimes, knowing they’re extremely unlikely to be held to account and punished. Such abhorrent abuses must stop,” Lord Ahmad wrote in an opinion piece.

“That is why the UK government is at the vanguard of global action to prevent and prosecute conflict-related sexual violence — and why from today we will be bringing together partners from around the world in London to discuss how we can take more action to tackle this global evil.”

He said the conference had been a decade in the making. Former foreign secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie jointly launched the UK’s landmark Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative in 2012.

Since then, the UK has provided £50 million over the last 10 years to support almost 100 projects across more than 29 countries, helping thousands of survivors to rebuild their lives.

“It has not been easy, as we know from shocking first-hand testimonies that this terrible crime can affect some of the most vulnerable people in some of the most inaccessible places around the world,” he said.

“I will simply never forget hearing the harrowing screams of an innocent four-year-old-girl, a victim of rape — the youngest patient in the hospital at that time. How can men do this? What evil possesses them?

“Through the incredible work of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege and the Panzi Foundation, who I am honoured to call a friend, survivors are given compassionate care, including medical, psychosocial, economic and legal support to help them heal and rebuild their lives.”