3rd April 2013
Angelina Jolie and William Hague: Campaigning for Justice
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague make an unlikely combination. But they are campaigning together to stop rape being used as a tool of war. Last week they visited the Democratic Republic of Congo together to raise awareness of the issue on an international level.
How serious is the use of sexual violence in conflict?
The figures from Bosnia illustrate the nature and extent of the problem: up to 50,000 women are estimated to have been raped during the 1992-95 conflict; but there have been only 30 prosecutions specifically for sex war crimes.
The Rwanda genocide was even worse: the UN estimates that at least 250,000 women were raped. And in one recent period, of the thousands of rapes in the DRC, up to 50% of all survivors were under 17 and 10% were under 10.
The fact is that wars are not fought in battlefields but are often played out in urban settings. Margot Wallstrom, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict has commented that:
“Wars have entered the marketplaces where women trade; they follow children en route to school; and haunt the prison cells where political activists are detained.”
Rape is used to terrorise, intimidate and humiliate innocent women and children.
The use of sexual violence is now widespread in Syria. Indeed, evidence gathered by the International Rescue Committee found that it is one of the main reasons why so many women and children are fleeing to neighbouring countries like Jordan. Both the regime and the rebels are accused of using rape as a weapon.
This is not a comfortable subject to talk about. Many people would prefer to shy away from it. But the true horror of the way rape is used was brought home to me by one of the cases mentioned in a recent IRC report. A father from Syria admitted that he had shot his own daughter rather than risk the disgrace of her being raped.
This case highlights one of the greatest injustices: that the victims are subject to lasting stigma and shame while the abusers usually enjoy impunity. This situation needs to be reversed. The victims of rape will always be victims but need support and counselling for their emotional scars.
Their dignity needs to be restored and their innocence needs to be accepted by society. They need to feel confident about speaking out and demanding respect for their rights.
On the other hand, the perpetrators need to be actively pursued and systematically brought to justice. As William Hague said in the DRC:
“We want to see a significant increase in the number of successful prosecutions so that we erode and eventually demolish the culture of impunity.”
One important step is to gather evidence of these crimes as early as possible. William Hague has formed a rapid deployment unit of experts drawn from the police, forensic experts and lawyers to be sent to war zones at short notice whenever there are signs of sexual abuse on a large scale.
Changing attitudes and perceptions takes time. But we owe it to the victims to ensure that their abusers are brought to justice.
Amazing woman… beauty and the best heart.. i love it
So sad and very unfair. Thank you for the support Mr. William Hague.
Dear Peter, by reading your proper report I immediately thought : “THAT ´S IT!”. We all should urgently need more people like actress Angelina Jolie and Foreign Secretary William Hague. For both of them DON ´T talk too much about “Justice” they are acting and campaigning.Of course , I was really shocked by reading of what ´s happening in the DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo. But the -in my opinion sad thing is- that not many people are interested in ithis. I ´m also really doubting – whether the most of us do know, that TWO nations withe the name Congo are existing.The DRC as well as the People´s Republic of Congo. Or that the capitals are Brazzaville and Kinshasa. So you can ´t underestimate the visit of this “unlikely combination”, a Hollywood female superstar and one of the world ´s most important politican. But maybe it ´s exactly a combination or a teamwork of such a pair, that is DRAWING MUCH MORE ATTENTION to the situation in re. of rapes and sexual violence against women in Congo or Rwanda to the world – as maybe any BBC Africa report. And their campaign hasn ´t stop so far if I´m correct. By translating this fact into my way of thinking : They will surely leave a strking and long impact or an impression to all of us. To conclude: Your “K-Sentence ” is to me, that “those wars are not fought in battlefields but are often played out in urban settings”. This must be hell and horror pure. So until now all we can do is to make sure , that at least those abusers are brought to this kind of justice of which they do deserve. Congratulations and respect to bothe , actress Mrs. Angelina Jolie and FS Mr. William Hague. The German anti-nazi resistance used to say: “Gottes Mühlen arbeiten langsam- aber sie arbeiten….the wheels of the Holy God are turning slowly – but they turn. Best wishes and much success, Hawyl faur, beste Grüssle, Ingo-Steven Wais, Stuttgart/Cardiff
Nice write-up but what of the atrocities in Kashmir? Are the Indian army to be unaccountable for their actions. I believe you are familiar with the Human Rights Watch report.http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA935.PDF