Call for views as peers plan report on sexual violence in conflict

Sexual violence in conflict regions, and the effectiveness of the UK Government's policy and practice towards preventing it, is the focus of a new inquiry by a House of Lords Committee which called today for evidence on the issue.

The Committee on Sexual Violence in Conflict hopes to engage with those who have direct experience of sexual violence in conflict and organisations that represent survivors, both in the UK and abroad.

The UK Government has taken a leading role internationally in the fight against sexual violence in conflict, establishing the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and hosting the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2014. The committee will assess the impact of those initiatives and what more can be done to address sexual violence in conflict.

Written evidence is invited by 18 September. The committee has been instructed to report by the end of March 2016, and hopes to attend and present its report at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016.

Questions the committee is seeking evidence on include:

• How can the UK use its position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to advance the cause of preventing sexual violence in conflict?
• How might the UK use the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 to further the prevention of sexual violence in conflict?
• How far are cultural and societal factors responsible for sexual violence in conflict? Is inequality and the status of women an important factor underlying sexual violence?
• Preventing conflict is the best single way of preventing sexual violence in conflict. Is enough being done in this respect? What measures to prevent sexual violence in conflict have been shown to work?
• How effective are efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict by non-State actors? What more can be done in this respect?
• How effective is the Government’s approach for support, assistance and reparation for survivors?
• How do we ensure international peacekeepers are held to the very highest standards to prevent them perpetrating sexual violence?

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, chairman of the committee, commented: "Sexual violence in conflict is a dreadful crime, making victims of women, girls, men and boys in conflicts across the globe. The committee have already heard some evidence in private from survivors and it is clear that sexual violence has a devastating and longlasting impact.

"The UK Government has been bold in establishing the PSVI and hosting the Global Summit in 2014, but we are now a year on from that and it is time to assess what progress has been made. We are interested in exploring whether the Government is getting it right in the international policy agenda, in prevention measures and meeting the needs of survivors.

"Our inquiry and report will only be as strong as the evidence we receive, and we are keen to hear from survivors and the groups that represent them. While we will not be able to comment on, or review individual cases, we want to ensure our report is informed by as broad a range of witnesses as possible, so I would encourage anyone who wants to submit evidence to write to us by 18 September."

A YouTube video by Baroness Nicholson drawing attention to the call for evidence can be viewed by clicking here.

Click here to access the call for evidence. Evidence should be submitted, preferably by email to hlsvccmttee@parliament.uk.