Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help prevent of sexual violence against women and girls during in the conflict in Ukraine.

In response to reports of atrocities, the UK worked with partners to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), establish a Commission of Inquiry through the UN Human Rights Council and establish an OSCE Mission. In addition to our support to the ICC, we deployed specialist UK war crimes and sexual violence expertise to the region to support investigations.

The UK has pledged £220 million of humanitarian assistance. This is supporting life-saving assistance, targeted services, legal support and crisis accommodation. Funding through UN Populations Fund is helping the Ukrainian Government set up support mechanisms for gender-based violence (GBV) survivors. We are also supporting the effective documentation of GBV cases. We have dedicated funding supporting the critical needs of women and children. Our new two-year £10 million civil society fund will support local organisations, including those gathering evidence of war crimes such as conflict-related sexual violence.