Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences
(asked on 6th February 2018) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which British embassies currently have active projects under the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative; and whether they will detail what those projects entail.
Answered by
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) posts are delivering the following activity (broken down by country) under the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) in this financial year, using (a) policy programme funds from the FCO core budget:
| Post | Activity Detail |
|---|---|
Afghanistan | Tackling and reducing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), tackling stigma against survivors, advancing women’s rights |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Increasing access to justice, care, empowerment and reparations for survivors |
Burma | Increasing awareness of women’s rights and how to investigate and document sexual violence in accordance with the International Protocol, increasing access to health and psychosocial support and security services for survivors of sexual and domestic violence |
Central African Republic | Training judiciary/legal professionals to enhance their knowledge and understanding of PSVI, giving practical support to the Office of the Attorney General to develop specialised investigation capacity for sexual violence crimes |
Colombia | Tackling stigma, empowering victims, national work with journalists/media to transform attitudes towards gender-based violence and reduce stigma for victims of sexual violence |
Democratic Republic of Congo | Supporting public outreach events and media communications to counter sexual violence, building local capacity for criminal accountability and victim support |
Iraq | Training to increase understanding of the impact of SGBV in conflict on society as a whole, supporting capacity and action plans of human rights working groups established by the Embassy focused on PSVI, economy and education aimed at assisting empowerment of women |
Kosovo | Psychological and social support for survivors, justice and reparation programs; training for stakeholders; awareness campaign to change attitudes and behaviours; supporting the process of documentation and investigation of sexual violence during conflict |
Rwanda/Burundi | Greater domestic and international awareness of sexual violence in Burundi, increasing access to justice for survivors of sexual violence |
Syria | Raising awareness of sexual violence, facilitating psychosocial support and medical services for survivors, facilitating measures to document, report and store data related to sexual violence |
and (b) the cross-Government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) (the following projects supporting the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, implemented as part of wider work on Gender, Peace and Security)
| Post | Activity Detail |
|---|---|
Azerbaijan | Strengthen women’s security |
Libya | Capacity building to civil society organisations working on women's issues |
Nigeria | Reintegration of Survivors of sexual violence |
Somalia | Supporting victims of sexual violence |
South Sudan | Preventing violence and building safer communities |
Syria | Community-based approach to tackling sexual and gender based violence |
Ukraine | Integrated response to end gender-based violence |
Wider Eastern Europe/Central Asia Region | Strengthening national gender-based violence prevention |
Wider Middle East and North Africa Region | Human rights and conflict prevention in particular PSVI, core support to the UN Action for Preventing Sexual Violence and to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict’s Team of Experts |