British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, alongside Hollywood actress, Angelina Jolie on Wednesday launched an international protocol on how to document and investigate sexual violence in conflict.
“If all countries applied these standards then it will greatly strengthen prosecutions for rape in conflict and help to secure a dramatic increase in successful convictions,” Hague said.
The pair is co-chairing the summit at the ExCel conference centre in London’s docklands, which runs until June 13.
Up to 1,200 government ministers, military and judicial officials and activists from about 150 nations are attending the four day conference, which is a call for action to protect women, children and men from rape and sex attacks in war zones.
“The courage of survivors and activists must now be matched by the determination of governments and that is why this summit aims to galvanise the international community into action,” Hague said at the launch.
Actress Jolie, who is also special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that impunity for sexual crimes in conflict zones is an “intolerable situation” and called for justice for victims.
“We all know how hard it is to secure convictions for rape even in stable democratic countries, so we have to work even harder to make justice possible in fragile countries, and that is the purpose of this protocol,” she said.
Jolie’s involvement in humanitarian issues dates back to 2001 when she travelled to Sierra Leone as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and saw the impact of years of civil war when an estimated 60,000 women were raped.
Hague became involved in Jolie’s campaign against sexual violence in war zones after being alerted to the issue following the actress’s 2011 directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey”, that was set against the backdrop of the 1992-95 Bosnian war in which more than 100,000 people were killed and an estimated 20,000 women believed raped.
In 2013, the unusual partnership led to the launch of a declaration, now signed by about 150 countries, pledging to end impunity and provide justice and safety for victims but Hague said the summit would take this further.
